BPCE, Generali boards poised to support asset management tie-up, sources say

By Gianluca Semeraro and Mathieu Rosemain

MILAN/PARIS (Reuters) -The boards of directors at Italian insurer Generali and French banking group BPCE are likely to give green lights on Monday to a tie-up of their asset management businesses, three sources close to the matter said.

Following board approval, a preliminary deal to combine BPCE's Natixis Investment Managers and the bulk of Generali's assets under management could be announced as soon as Tuesday, the sources added, declining to be named because the talks are private.

Under the proposed deal, the new entity would be owned equally and have a balanced governance structure despite Natixis initially contributing a larger sum in assets, the sources said.

It would be led by Woody Bradford, the current head of Generali Investments Holding (GIH), and chaired by BPCE's Chief Executive Nicolas Namias, one of the sources said.

Generali's investment committee, which gives its opinion on deals worth at least 250 million euros ($258 million), on Sunday gave its green light to the venture with BPCE.

Committee member Stefano Marsaglia, who represents one of Generali's major shareholders, Italian businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, voted against the deal, a separate source, close to the matter, told Reuters on Monday.

Generali and BPCE have been discussing a tie-up to create a major European fund manager at a time when the industry is under pressure to scale up to shield profit margins and sustain rising technology investments.

Natixis managed 1.28 trillion euros in assets as of Sept. 30, against Generali's 843 billion euros. The Italian insurer would contribute only 650 billion euros to the combined entity, a source has previously said.

Both Caltagirone and fellow shareholder Delfin, the holding company of late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, have reservations over the deal due to concerns about the influence the French side would exert in the partnership.

Caltagirone controls three out of 13 seats on the Generali board. The investment committee is made up of six directors.

The deal will be scrutinised by Italy's government under its "golden power" legislation, giving Rome a say over transactions that affect companies deemed of strategic national importance.

Tasked with refinancing one of the world's largest public debts, Italy is keen to keep savings managers in domestic hands, so as to be able to lean on domestic buyers in the event of a crisis.

In December, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy had "to be careful" to keep within its borders the "decision-making centres" that allocate domestic savings, in order to make sure the money is invested in Italy.

($1 = 0.9736 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro. Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei. Editing by Valentina Za, Keith Weir and Mark Potter)