PARIS (Reuters) – CACEIS, the asset servicing business owned by French bank Credit Agricole and Spanish bank Santander, has struck a preliminary deal to buy the European asset servicing business of RBC Investor Services.

The acquisition, due to be completed by the end of the third quarter in 2023, would result in CACEIS having about 4.8 trillion euros ($4.7 trillion) worth of assets under custody and 3.5 trillion euros of assets under administration, CACEIS said on Monday.

The acquisition of the European asset servicing activities of RBC Investor Services will also entail the takeover of an associated Malaysian division.

This combination with RBC Investor Services helps us consolidate our position as a leading European player in asset servicing,” said CACEIS Chief Executive Jean-François Abadie.

($1 = 1.0256 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Kim Coghill and David Goodman)