UniCredit close to deal with Santander on asset management units - CEO
MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank by assets, UniCredit , is close to signing a deal with Spain's Santander to combine their asset management businesses, UniCredit CEO Federico Ghizzoni said on Saturday.
"We are nearing (a deal with Santander) and I hope there will be a positive announcement soon," Ghizzoni said on the sidelines of an event in Milan. The comments were later confirmed by a bank spokesman.
The two banks announced in September they were in talks to merge Santander Asset Management and UniCredit's Pioneer unit to create a European fund managing powerhouse overseeing some 350 billion euros (£252.8 billion) of assets.
However, the final deal will likely differ from the initial project, a source close to the matter said on Saturday, adding that the U.S. operations of Pioneer may be stripped out from the combination and be included in a different transaction.
A final agreement could be announced as soon as the beginning of next week, two sources told Reuters.
Santander declined to comment on the issue.
(Reporting by Francesca Landini, additional reporting by Jesus Aguado in Madrid and Paola Arosio in Milan; Editing by Gareth Jones)
