OREANDA-NEWS. February 20, 2015. French investment bank Natixis said on Thursday it plans to buy a controlling stake in French asset manager DNCA as it shifts focus to investment management and insurance.

Natixis, which reported a 43 percent increase in quarterly profit, said it planned to buy a 71.2 percent stake in DNCA for 549 million euros (\\$626 million).

"DNCA would represent a major reinforcement to our position in asset management in Europe and make a positive contribution to growth right from 2015," Chief Executive Laurent Mignon said in a statement.

DNCA, which manages 14.2 billion euros, is owned partly by US private equity firm TA Associates. Milan-based Banca Leonardo has a 10 percent stake, while employees own the rest.

Mignon said Natixis also intended to buy into Leonardo & Co, a mid-cap advisory firm owned by Banca Leonardo, but no further details or price were given in the statement.

With tighter regulations constraining growth from traditional investment banking, Natixis aims to build up its asset management and insurance businesses to keep expanding.

It proposed an exceptional dividend of 0.14 euros per share, thanks to gains from the stock market flotation of its credit insurer Coface last June.

That comes on top of an ordinary cash dividend of 0.20 euros er share, up from 0.16 euros in 2013 and equivalent to a payout ratio of 51 percent.

Natixis - controlled by BPCE, a network of cooperative lenders - reported a net profit of 215 million euros for the fourth quarter, helped by a lower tax bill.

Revenue rose 3 percent over the period to 1.883 billion euros, boosted by growth in its investment management business, while expenses rose 6 percent.

Analysts had expected a net profit of 271 million euros on revenue of 1.9 billion euro.