BPCE has been working with Fenchurch Advisory and Rothschild & Co to informally gauge interest in its money management arm Natixis Investment Managers, one of the sources said on condition of anonymity. The business oversees $1.2 trillion in assets.

Generali has not moved forward with discussions, choosing instead to focus on integrating its recent acquisition of U.S. asset manager Conning, a third source said.

AXA was reported to have explored the possibility of a tie-up with Natixis Investment Managers in 2017, but a deal never materialised. Natixis Investment Managers comprises close to 20 boutiques, including Harris Associates.

"We are working on our next pluri-annual strategic plan," a BPCE spokesman said. "As part of this exercise, we are (conducting) analysis for each business of the group to identify the best way to develop them."

"These analyses are performed for all of the group's many business lines and are not at all specific to asset management."

(Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Emma-Victoria Farr in Frankfurt; Additional reporting by Gianluca Semeraro in Milan; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and David Goodman)

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Amy-Jo Crowley and Emma-Victoria Farr