Crédit Agricole and Société Générale to form asset management giant

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Crédit Agricole and Société Générale to form asset management giant

A preliminary agreement has been signed between French banks Crédit Agricole S.A. and Société Générale which entails unification of their asset management businesses.

The combined asset management operation will be the 4th largest in Europe and the 9th biggest on the global stage, with Crédit Agricole S.A. holding a 70% stake and Société Générale having the remaining 30%.

It will include CAAM group, Société Générale’s asset management business’ activities in Europe and Asia, and a fifth of TCW, its US asset management subsidiary.

Assets under management (as of September last year) will total €638bn, with net banking income of €1.8bn.

The asset management business will also have gross operating income totalling €0.9bn, and 50 million customers across the world.

The agreement has been signed amid continuing global economic turmoil, with the financial sector particularly hard hit, with a recent Eurofactor Barometer survey showing that (Europe-wide) SMEs are pessimistic about the near future.