Italy’s Generali and the owner of France’s Natixis are set to combine their asset management operations to create a European giant overlooking 1.9 trillion euros ($1.979 trillion) in assets.The Italian insurer and French retail bank Groupe BPCE signed a preliminary deal underpinned by 15-year contracts to form a joint venture they will each own a 50% of.

With €1.9tn in AUM, the joint venture would allow the pair to expand globally and speed up a push into private markets.

Under the terms of the tie-up, BPCE and Generali Investments will combine their asset management operations in a 50-50 joint venture, people familiar with the situation said. A non-binding preliminary agreement could be reached as early as next week. It would still need to be approved by the relevant unions and authorities.

The investment committee of Generali has given its green light to the Italian insurer's planned asset management deal with Natixis Investment Managers, two sources close to the matter said on Sunday.

The combined entity will have equal ownership, with each party holding 50% and sharing governance and control.

The board of Italy's top insurer Generali has approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that paves the way for an asset management deal with BPCE's Natixis Investment Managers to crate a European champion,

Generali and BPCE have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for each to own 50% of the joint venture

PRESS RELEASE BPCE and Generali to Create the Largest Asset Manager in Europe by revenues and a Major Player Worldwide Milan & Paris, 2125 – Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (“Generali”) and BPCE today announce that they have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) to create a joint venture between their respective asset management operations Generali Investments Holding (“GIH”)1 and Natixis Investment Managers (“Natixis IM”).

French banking group BPCE and Italian insurer Generali have reached an agreement to combine their asset management businesses, a move that will create a €1.9tn behemoth. The two groups said on 21 January that they had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture, with each owning 50% as part of a 15-year contract.

Italy's Generali and France's BPCE said on Tuesday they had taken the first step towards creating Europe's largest asset manager by revenue as the industry bets on size to protect profit margins. The