The parent of Columbia Threadneedle [profile] and two other bidders may be the only serious remaining contenders in the Pioneer Investments [profile] auction.

James Cracchiolo Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Chairman and CEO

Ameriprise, the consortium led by Poste Italiane, and Amundi are the contenders, Francesca Landini and Stephen Jewkes of Reuters report, per unnamed sources. The wire service notes that Amundi offered the highest bid and that Macquarie's (Macquarie is the parent of Delaware Investments) "was the least attractive" so the Australian firm is "practically out of the race."

For the latest updates, check out MFWire's living timeline of UniCredit's attempt to sell Pioneer.

A fifth bidder, Aberdeen, publicly dropped out of the Pioneer race a week ago. At the time Aberdeen's chief revealed that the price tag on Pioneer had reached 3.5 billion euros ($3.7 billion), which he said Aberdeen "couldn't quite afford."

An unnamed source now tells Reuters that, though Amundi is offering the best price for Pioneer, UniCredit isn't considering price alone.

Per previous reports, UniCredit's chief is expected to wait until after a December 4 Italian constitutional referendum before making his decision on what to do with Pioneer. (UniCredit is a giant Italian bank.) 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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