MILAN (Reuters) -Credit Agricole should decide by May whether it wants UniCredit to extend a contract it has with the French bank's fund manager Amundi, an Italian daily reported citing comments by UniCredit's CEO.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told investors in recent days that discussions with Credit Agricole (OTC:CRARY) are ongoing, Il Messaggero reported.
"We're talking to Credit Agricole. They should decide by May," the paper quoted Orcel as saying.
UniCredit and Credit Agricole did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Amundi declined to comment.
Under a distribution contract signed in 2017, when UniCredit sold its own fund business to Amundi, products by Europe's biggest asset manager must account for roughly three quarters of the assets UniCredit manages for its Italian clients.
The contract expires in 2027, and Il Messaggero said UniCredit can decide as early as this year not to renew it.
Italy is the biggest market outside France for both Credit Agricole and Amundi.
The newspaper said UniCredit has offered Credit Agricole a 10-year extension of the Amundi contract and a wider geographic distribution.
UniCredit needs Credit Agricole to tender its stake in Banco BPM under a buyout offer it has launched for its smaller peer.
Credit Agricole is the main investor in Banco BPM, with a stake it has recently increased to 15% while seeking supervisory clearance to raise that to just below 20%.
Il Messaggero reported that Orcel had held discussions with Credit Agricole over Christmas and was confident that the French bank would tender its BPM stake under the bid.
The paper also cited Orcel as saying that he was only "moderately interested" in Anima Holding, the asset manager Banco BPM was in the process of buying when UniCredit unveiled its own bid.
Orcel also told investors that he was ready to dispose of BPM's 5% stake in rival Monte dei Paschi once UniCredit took over the rival, Il Messaggero said.