Amundi39;s contract with UniCredit runs out in 2027
Amundiowner Credit Agricole has stake in Banco BPM
UniCredit has launched takeover bid for BPM

MILAN, Jan 14 Reuters Credit Agricole should decide by May whether it wants UniCredit to extend a contract it has with the French bank39;s fund manager Amundi, an Italian daily reported citing comments by UniCredit39;s CEO.

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told investors in recent days that discussions with Credit Agricole are ongoing, Il Messaggero reported.

We39;re talking to Credit Agricole. They should decide by May, the paper quoted Orcel as saying.

UniCredit and Credit Agricole did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Amundi declined to comment.

Under a distribution contract signed in 2017, when UniCredit sold its own fund business to Amundi, products by Europe39;s biggest asset manager must account for roughly three quarters of the assets UniCredit manages for its Italian clients.

The contract expires in 2027, and Il Messaggero said UniCredit can decide as early as this year not to renew it.

Italy is the biggest market outside France for both Credit Agricole and Amundi.

The newspaper said UniCredit has offered Credit Agricole a 10year extension of the Amundi contract and a wider geographic distribution.

UniCredit needs Credit Agricole to tender its stake in Banco BPM under a buyout offer it has launched for its smaller peer.

Credit Agricole is the main investor in Banco BPM, with a stake it has…