By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) -Amundi, Europe's biggest fund manager, said on Wednesday it will buy Zurich-based private markets specialist Alpha Associates, part of a growing trend of investors betting on fast-growing alternative assets.
Amundi will pay a maximum of 350 million euros ($377 million) for Alpha, CEO Valerie Baudson said in a call with reporters, divided between a first payment of 160 million euros and a second of up to 190 million euros, depending on the targeted company's growth.
The deal comes as asset managers look for new sources of revenue as their fees come under pressure from a long-running shift of client cash from actively managed to passive funds.
Shares in Amundi, which is controlled by French bank Credit Agricole (EPA:CAGR), fell as much as 5% in early trading as analysts noted weaker than expected inflows in some active areas and resulting pressure on management fee margins.
Amundi shares were last down 2.6% at 1005 GMT.
The Alpha acquisition adds a team of 70 people and 8.5 billion euros of assets spanning private debt, infrastructure, private equity and venture capital. U.S. rivals BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and General Atlantic struck larger deals to buy infrastructure investors earlier this year.
Amundi reported a 7% rise in assets under management in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to 2.037 trillion euros, as prolonged uncertainty in markets fueled demand for low-risk investment products. From the previous quarter, they rose 3.2%.
Instability in financial markets has stemmed from sharp interest rate increases, lingering inflation in Europe and unexpected geopolitical events.
Europe's economic slowdown has pushed retail and institutional investors to safer bets in the form of treasury funds, structured products and exchange traded funds (ETF), Amundi's fourth-quarter results yet again showed.
The bulk of overall inflows of 13.2 billion euros in the quarter, excluding the contribution from joint ventures, was underpinned by treasury products and so-called "passive management", which aims to replicate the performance of a specific market index or benchmark.
Baudson confirmed the group's 2025 targets, including average annual net income growth of about 5%. The fund manager said it will propose a dividend of 4.10 euros per share for 2023, in line with the dividend paid for 2022.
Amundi's fourth-quarter adjusted net income came in line with market expectations at 313 million euros, up 3.4% from a year earlier.
Group adjusted net revenues over the period grew by 2% to 806 million euros.
($1 = 0.9294 euros)