AXA IM says has had approaches but remains strategic for parent AXA

PARIS (Reuters) - AXA's asset management arm said on Thursday that it had been in talks with a number of players interested in a potential transaction, but the business remained strategic for its parent insurance group, its chief executive said in an Email to staff.

"I know that there have been a lot of press reports and rumours over the past weeks concerning possible transactions involving AXA Investment Managers," AXA IM CEO Andrea Rossi said in the Email, obtained by Reuters.

"These come in the context of a consolidating asset management sector in which the group has been approached by a number of parties interested in considering a potential transaction with us".

"I wanted to let you know that Thomas Buberl has confirmed that the group continues to view AXA Investment Managers as one of its strategic assets," added Rossi.

(Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Matthieu Protard; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)