The cat is officially out of the bag for at least one of the companies bidding on Pioneer Investments [profile]. Yet that same bidder is crying foul on the rumored pricing. And a second bidder is reportedly working on raising $2.2 billion to finance its bid. [See MFWire's living timeline of the Pioneer auction for more details and history.]

Perrier Yves Amundi Chief Executive Officer

Earlier this week Amundi, a Paris-based multinational asset manager, officially confirmed "its interest in Pioneer", the multinational asset management arm of giant Italian bank UniCredit. Reports outed Amundi as a Pioneer bidder a month ago, and earlier this month Il Messaggero reported that Amundi was bidding 4 billion euros (now about $4.39 billion). Yet in the statement this week, the Amundi folks tried to shoot down that pricing rumor, by writing that "Amundi denies however the Pioneer valuation levels attributed to it."

Fund Strategy, Investment Week, and Reuters all reported on Amundi's statement.

Also this week, Reuters reports that, per an unnamed source, rumored Pioneer bidder Poste Italiane (the Italian post office) is talking with banks to raise up to 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to support its bid for Pioneer. The wire service adds that Anima (an asset manager) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP, a state lender) joined Poste Italiane's bid last month.

As previously reported, the latest word is the UniCredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier won't be making his Pioneer decision until after the Italian constitutional reform referendum vote on December 4. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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