Dexia announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with New York Life Investments for the sale of Dexia Asset Management. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The thrice-bailed out lender has agreed with European regulators to dispose of Dexia Asset Management as part of a deal to receive state bailouts. Previously, a deal to sell the asset management business to Hong Kong-based GCS Capital for €380m ($507m) fell apart in July this year, as the acquirer was not in a position to pay the anticipated acquisition amount. Most recently, London-based asset management company FinEx Capital Management said that it made an offer to acquire Dexia Asset Management, which had €72.7bn of assets under management at the end of June 2013.
“New York Life Investments has an outstanding track record of acquiring investment firms and managing a “multi-boutique” business. The company is one of the largest asset management firms in the world, with over $388 billion in assets under management (as at 31 July 2013)”, explained the press release
Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, Chairman of Dexia’s Executive Committee added: “The anticipated sale of Dexia AM to New York Life Investments heralds a promising future for our company, particularly in view of the complementarity between the two firms.”
New York Life Investments is a subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company, which was established in 1845 and ranks among the Fortune Top 100 companies. New York Life is the largest mutual life insurance company in the US and one of the largest life insurers in the world.
Any agreement by the parties would be subject to finalization of its key terms and of the employee consultation process in accordance with the applicable legal framework. These negotiations will be followed by the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA).