AXA Investment Managers has entered into negotiations to sell its investment arm to BNP Paribas in a €5.1bn deal.
It comes after the two French asset managers were exploring a joint venture last month, creating an asset manager with €1.5trn assets under management.
The deal would see BNP Paribas acquire the AXA IM alongside its Select business for a further €300m.
BNP would also enter a long-term strategic partnership with AXA, providing investment management services to the group.
Thomas Burberl, CEO of AXA said: “In the context of a rapidly consolidating and highly competitive asset management industry, the group has considered different options to support the future development of AXA IM and to best align with the strategic goals of AXA to further simplify its business profile and grow its insurance businesses.
“By joining forces with BNP Paribas, AXA IM would become a global asset manager with a wider product offering and a mutual objective to further their leading position in responsible investing.
“This long-term partnership would provide AXA and its customers with continued access to a wide range of best-in-class investment solutions that would further strengthen our strategic ambitions in life and savings.”
This would not be the first JV between the two firms. In 2005, BNPP AM and AXA IM co-founded EasyETF, marking their entry into European ETFs.
However, AXA IM sold the business to BNPP AM in 2009. The latter is currently a top 10 ETF issuer in Europe with $28.1bn AUM.
AXA IM re-entered European ETFs in September 2022, with the launch of two active ETFs, a key area of focus for the French insurer.
From an ETF perspective, the duo’s ranges would have little crossover, with BNPP AM traditionally focusing on rules-based ETFs while AXA IM has predominantly launched active ETFs.
