A European venture that aims to take minority stakes in entrepreneurial asset management firms and help them grow says it is in talks with a potential Chinese shareholder.
IM Square aims to buy stakes in firms with assets under management of between $1 billion and $15 billion and help them expand outside their domestic markets.
IM Square's founding shareholders are the French giant Amundi, which has €950 billion ($1 trillion) under management, and Eurazeo, a much smaller firm that has €5 billion. An investor group, La Maison, is also a founding shareholder.
Philippe Couvrecelle, former chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management and co-founder of IM Square, says: "It is important that we include a strong partner in Asia to help us develop in this region. We are now in discussion with a potential shareholder in China and hope to sign on the partner in due course."
Amundi, Eurazeo and La Maison have committed €40 million to finance IM Square's first investments. The venture aims to invest €250 million in the next four years.
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