Assicurazioni Generali considering asset management deal with Guggenheim - report

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Assicurazioni Generali (OTCPK:ARZGF) (OTCPK:ARZGY) shares have gained 4.1% in U.S. trading Friday morning after a report that Italy's biggest insurer is considering a deal with U.S.-based Guggenheim Partners to expand its asset management business.

The company has held informal talks on a range of options including an outright acquisition of Guggenheim's asset management business, a strategic investment or other partnership, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks, at an early stage, have been on and off, and may not result in a transaction, the people said. Talks with Guggenheim aren't currently active, they added.

Generali (OTCPK:ARZGF) has weighed a potential sale of its Banca Generali unit to Mediabanca to finance a possible deal, Bloomberg reported.

The firm could also pursue another asset management target in the U.S., some of the people said.

A Guggenheim spokesman told Bloomberg the company doesn't comment on such conversations, and Generali declined to comment.

During Generali's (OTCPK:ARZGF) Q2 earnings call, CEO Phillipe Donnet said, "I think it's important that, we continue increasing the earnings coming from health insurance, coming from asset management."