Azimut will set up an asset manager of which UniCredit can acquire control in five years at the latest. Photograph: Alessia Pierdomenico/BloombergItalian asset manager Azimut is setting up a unit in the Republic as part of an agreement with Italian bank UniCredit. The arrangement will allow UniCredit to bring back in-house a fee-yielding business a decade after parting ways with its Dublin-based Pioneer asset management arm.
Azimut chairman Pietro Giuliani said two of the company’s CEOs had a meeting scheduled on Monday with Irish regulators to discuss the project.In an effort to rebuild UniCredit’s depleted capital reserves, then UniCredit chief executive Jean Pierre Mustier in 2017 sold Pioneer to Amundi, signing a partnership that expires in 2027.
Asked about the implications of the call option in the Azimut deal for the Amundi partnership, Mr Orcel did not rule out UniCredit could seek other partners after 2027.