Pierre Servant is working on a deal to buy another French asset manager. The deal would bring the target's products to investors worldwide.

Yesterday Servant, CEO Natixis Global Asset Management [profile], unveiled exclusive negotiations with Banca Leonardo, TA Associates, and the management of DNCA Finance about slowly buying their stakes in DNCA. The $626-million deal would gain Natixis a 71.2-percent slice of Paris-based DNCA, and starting next year Natixis would gradually acquire the rest of the slices. The first part of the deal would close mid-2015.

As of January 31, DNCA worked with 14.6 billion euros (about $16.64 billion). So, Natixis' price translates into about 5.28 percent of DNCA's assets under management. DNCA has a team of 79 in Luxembourg, Milan, and Munich, as well as Paris. TA owns a majority of DNCA, DNCA employees own 40 percent, and Banca Leonardo owns 10 percent.

Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Pensions & Investments, and Reuters all reported on the deal talks.

In a release, Boston- and Paris-based French multinational Natixis confirms that the deal, if it goes through, "would help DNCA step up its international expansion in retail markets outside of France and Italy and deploy equity solutions to institutional clients by leveraging Natixis Global Asset Management's global centralized distribution platform and support functions." That might mean that DNCA's wares would eventually be incorporated into, or even distributed as new, U.S. mutual funds, yet the release makes no specific mention of distribution on this side of the Atlantic. And Natixis spokesman Natixis confirms that "the distribution focus will be on Europe for now."

The release also calls the DNCA deal "a major step forward in Natixis' New Frontier strategic plan."

"This projected acquisition furthers Natixis Global Asset Management's strategy of expanding its multi-affiliate model in Europe and fueling our growth in retail markets through a unique combination of funds," Servant states.

"In view of DNCA Finance's success over the last 15 years in France and Italy, our preference was to find a fast-growing French group to assist us in new markets, while retaining our own characteristics and our staff's entrepreneurial strengths," states DNCA Finance president Jean-Charles Meriaux and DNCA and Company president Joseph Chatel. "The support and synergies that we will develop with Natixis Global Asset Management's distribution platform and support functions will help us step up our international expansion."

As of December 30, Natixis had $890.0 billion in assets under management. It's a subsidiary of French banking giant BPCE. Natixis has 26 affiliates around the globe, 15 of which offer wares in the U.S. and 19 which do so outside the U.S. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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