CACEIS, the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole and Santander, is to purchase 33.33% of fund distribution platform Fund Channel’s share capital from asset manager Amundi.
Fund Channel is the fourth-largest European B2B fund platform and offers access to over 600 fund managers and connects with more than 100 distributors in Europe and Asia. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the platform has more than €300 billion of assets under intermediation.
Amundi stated the deal represents a “strategic agreement to accelerate the development” of Fund Channel.
The €1.9trn asset-strong French manager will remain the majority shareholder.
The closing of the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, subject to prior approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.
The partnership will enable Fund Channel’s clients to benefit from a fully-fledged execution service offering, while CACEIS clients will have access to a wide array of fund distribution-related services.
Alongside the deal, Amundi and CACEIS will continue to expand their long-term cooperation in other growth areas of fund services and data.
Valérie Baudson, CEO of Amundi, commented: “I am convinced that this industrial and commercial partnership will create value for both companies and distributors, which are increasingly looking for services across the entire investment and savings value chain. It will also enhance Fund Channel’s position as a major player in a fast-growing market.”
This project is part of the 2025 Strategic Ambitions Plan recently announced by Amundi to investors in June 2022, with a target of more than €600 billion of assets intermediated by year-end 2025 for Fund Channel.
Fund Channel seeks to capture the major trends in the open-architecture distribution market in Europe, as distributors increasingly turn to outsourcing certain services to reduce costs, gain scale, and improve services for their clients.
Jean-François Abadie, CEO of CACEIS, added: “This joint venture will significantly boost Fund Channel’s profile as a fund distribution platform in Europe and Asia. By joining forces with Amundi, we have created a strategic partnership which enhances the fund distribution support offering of both CACEIS and Fund Channel, while meeting the demands of our current and future clients in the most efficient way.”
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