Generali says deal with France's Natixis won't reduce tax bill in Italy

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's biggest insurance group Generali said on Tuesday that its proposed asset management tie-up with France's Natixis would not lead to any reduction of its Italian tax bill.

Generali entered into a non-binding agreement with Natixis-owner BPCE to merge into a NewCo the operations of Generali Investments Holding (GIH) and Natixis Investment Managers, aiming to form Europe's largest asset manager by revenue.

On Tuesday, the Italian company said the deal would not result in any value transfer outside of Italy, nor to any reduction of taxes payable in the country.

It added it was "plausible" that its Italian tax burden would actually increase due to the creation of another level in the corporate chain in Italy, resulting in further taxation of dividends, and the increase in expected taxable dividends for Generali due to the creation of value generated by the NewCo.

Generali also said it was not its intention, and "nor are there any contractual provisions that could compel it to – reduce its stake or governance rights in (the) NewCo" to be formed with BPCE.

(Writing by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Alvise Armellini)