Several multinational asset managers with presence in the U.S. have been identified as some of the bidders contending for Pioneer Investments [profile]. Watch for UniCredit, the giant Italian bank that currently owns Pioneer, to settle on a Pioneer deal before 2017. [See MFWire's living timeline of the Pioneer auction for more details and history.]

Martin Gilbert Aberdeen Asset Management Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Aberdeen [profile], Allianz [profile], Axa, Delaware [profile] parent Macquarie, and Natixis [profile] are all involved in offers to buy Pioneer, Pamela Barbaglia and Anjuli Davies of Reuters report, citing unnamed sources. Yet the wire service adds that the three previously outed bidders (Amundi, Generali, and Poste Italiane) have now "emerged as the main contenders" for Pioneer. So, the Pioneer bidder list now includes companies based in: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Per previous reports, the first, non-binding round of Pioneer bids was due earlier this week.

Oliver Bäte Allianz Chief Executive Officer

Meanwhile, new UniCredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier will present his strategic plan by the end of the year, and Aliya Ram and Rachel Sanderson of the Financial Times report that "Staff at Pioneer have been told that a deal will be finalised by the end of the year." The paper, citing unnamed sources, says that Italian regulators like Generali and Poste Italiane as bidders, thanks to Pioneer being "a significant holder of Italian sovereign debt and pension money."

The price tag for Pioneer could be more than 3 billion euros (i.e. more than $3.35 billion), Paul Davies of the Wall Street Journal reports. As of June 30, Pioneer had $245 billion in AUM world (including $65.8 billion in the U.S.), so a $3.35-billion price tag would translate into about 1.4 percent of AUM.

Financial News, Fund Strategy, and InvestmentWeek also reported on the Pioneer bidding process. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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