Amundi IPO to Price at Low End of Range

One of Europe's largest asset managers will float shares in Paris later this week at the lower end of the marketed price range, according to a banker close to the deal.

Investors have committed to buy the initial public offering of Amundi Asset Management, which is jointly owned by French banks Socié té Gé né rale and Cré dit Agricole, at between €43 and €45, a banker close to the deal said. That is at the lower end of a €42 to €52.50 range at which bankers are marketing the shares and means the company will be worth between €7.1 billion and €7.5 billion when it goes public.

SocGen will sell its entire 20% stake in the offer. Cré dit Agricole, which owns the rest, will sell 2% to the Agricultural Bank of China and an additional 3% if there is sufficient demand. Shares are due to begin trading Thursday in Paris.

The banker close to the deal said that investors are concerned that Amundi could lose a mandate to manage assets for SocGen's insurance business and a distribution agreement with the bank once a contract with SocGen expires in five years. Amundi's management assured investors that its products are integrated into SocGen's business, making it unlikely the bank would take on the costs of switching to another fund company unless Amundi failed to provide a good service.

Amundi has also agreed to return its €1.3 billion cash pile to investors if it doesn't use it for acquisitions in the next three years. The company, which currently manages €950 billion for its clients including SocGen and Cré dit Agricole, has forecast that its assets will grow by €120 billion in the next two years. Having grown to dominate its home market in France, it is now seeking opportunities elsewhere in Europe and in Asia.

Write to Juliet Samuel at juliet.samuel@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2015 13:25 ET (18:25 GMT)

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