MILAN: UniCredit has struck a deal with asset manager Azimut Holding in a move that paves the way for the Italian bank to return to fund management a decade after it pulled away from the business.

Under the accord, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Azimut will set up a company in Ireland which UniCredit can acquire control of in five years at the latest. Azimut is expected to keep a minority stake.

CEO Andrea Orcel had been trying to renegotiate the terms of a deal struck by predecessor Jean Pierre Mustier who sold the bank’s asset management activities to Amundi, striking a 10-year distribution agreement with the French asset manager. Orcel was unhappy with minimum guaranteed levels under the Amundi contract but discussions have led nowhere and relations have soured, people with knowledge of the matter have said.