Amundi Targets €2B IPO

French asset management giant Amundi is to list on the Euronext stock exchange in Paris later this month and is targeting a €2 billion ($2.2 billion) initial market capitalization.

Amundi has scheduled November 16 as its first day of trading, and aims to raise between €1.6 billion and €2 billion from the share sale.

Société Générale (SocGen), which owns 20% of Amundi, is to sell “all or most” of this stake in the initial public offering (IPO), official documents stated. SocGen created Amundi in 2009 when it merged its asset management arm with that of fellow French bank Crédit Agricole.

SocGen is selling its shares in order to “access liquidity”, a statement from Amundi announcing the IPO said. French banks, like many across Europe, have been seeking to strengthen their balance sheets following the banking and Eurozone crises of recent years.

Crédit Agricole is to remain the majority shareholder in Amundi, controlling more than 70% of the total shares. Its actual stake post-IPO will depend on demand, as Crédit Agricole has pledged to sell up to €210 million of shares if the SocGen sale is oversubscribed.

Amundi had more than €950 billion in global assets under management at the end of June, and is one of the 10 biggest investment managers in the world.

In addition to the IPO, Faithful Way Investment—a subsidiary of the Agricultural Bank of China—is to take a minority stake in Amundi of roughly 2%, dependent on the final IPO price.

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