(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc. is in talks with Italy’s state trade credit insurer to manage up to €3 billion ($3.3 billion) of assets, a move that could bolster the US asset manager’s position in the euro zone’s third-largest economy, according to people familiar with the matter.
No final decision has been made and there’s currently no formal mandate for a possible deal, said the people, asking not to be named discussing confidential deliberations.
Sace said in a statement to Bloomberg that it hasn’t made any specific agreement with BlackRock on management of liquidity assets but that it habitually explores options with multiple prospective partners on the issue.
Chief Executive Officer Alessandra Ricci met with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and top executives from other companies at the G-7 summit in Italy, Sace said.
Sace started taking on a bigger role in the Italian economy after the government began stepping in to help companies hit by the pandemic and spiraling energy costs. Its outstanding guarantees as of last December totaled around €56 billion, according to its annual report.
A representative for BlackRock declined to comment.
Italian companies have successfully weathered interest rate fluctuations and inflation, Ricci told Bloomberg last year. Firms have solid liquidity buffers “also thanks to the measures provided by the government,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Sace in 2022 provided a state-backed guarantee for a €2 billion credit facility for the country’s largest phone carrier Telecom Italia SpA, and previously guaranteed 80% of a €6.3 billion loan for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, setting the stage for one of Europe’s biggest government-backed financing plans for a carmaker.
--With assistance from Silla Brush.
(Updates with CEO in seventh paragraph.)
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