French financial conglomerate BNP Paribas SA has completed the acquisition of Axa Investment Managers, a division of insurance and investment company Axa SA, for 5.1 billion euros ($5.3 billion). This is reported in a press release from Paribas.
Earlier, BNP Paribas SA held talks with the European Central Bank regarding the status of the deal, but ECB refused to recognize the validity of the so-called "Danish Compromise", which reduces the capital burden on transactions in the insurance sector.
Thus, BNP Paribas was unable to take advantage of the preferential capital raising regime that was taken into account when concluding the deal in January 2025 to create one of the largest European asset management companies as part of the merger of Axa Investment Managers and BNP Paribas Asset Management units with a total value of 1.5 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion).
The return on invested capital is projected to exceed 14% in 2028 and 20% in 2029. A significant portion of the funds will be directed to popular and more profitable markets, including private lending, infrastructure and real estate, as well as share buybacks and growth financing.
In addition, Axa is considering the possibility of combining business with divisions of other competitors against the background of the trend towards asset consolidation, as the operations of many banks and insurance companies are considered too insignificant.
The combined company will allow BNP to compete with Amundi SA, the largest European asset management investment company, but BNP will still be inferior to American companies BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc.
Axa Investment Managers has assets of 859 billion euros under management, while BNP Paribas Asset Management has assets of 562 billion euros.
BNP Paribas is a French financial conglomerate. BNP, together with Credit Agricole, Société Générale and Groupe BPCE, is one of the "big four" of the French banking market and is the leading EU bank. The headquarters is located in Paris (France) with offices in 65 countries.
Axa SA is one of the world's largest insurance and investment companies, which are systemically important for the global economy. The main regions of activity are Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The company provides insurance services in 56 countries around the world through a regional network of 118 branches. The headquarters is located in Paris (France).
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