Credit Agricole S.A. and Societe Generale signed a final agreement today to combine their asset management operations, according to a press release.
The separate asset management firms are called Credit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) and Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM).
This agreement solidifies a preliminary agreement announced on Jan. 26 .
Yves Perrier, the current CEO of CAAM, will become CEO of the new group.
The combined entity will have close to $827 billion of assets under management, ranking it the fourth largest in Europe and eighth largest worldwide.
The new entity, CAAM-SGAM, still includes all of the activities of the CAAM group, to which Societe Generale is bringing its fundamental investment activities, 20% of TCW and its joint-venture in India.
However, due to local regulatory constraints and agreements with partners, SGAM’s joint-ventures in China and Korea will not be included in the merger.
Seventy-five percent of the new entity will be held by Credit Agricole, while 25% will be held by Societe Generale.
Societe Generale will appoint one third of the directors of the board of the new entity, and will control the equivalent of one third of the voting rights under group governance.
The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year, as it is still subject to approval from relevant authorities.