Crédit Agricole and Société Générale are to float Amundi, their joint asset management subsidiary, by the end of the year.
Amundi, created in 2010, had €954bn ($1.088bn) of assets under management at the end of March 2015 and is among the 10 largest players in the world.
Nearly 44% of Amundi's assets are managed for insurance companies, representing more than €400bn ($560bn) in AuM at the end of 2014.
Amundi is 80% owned by Crédit Agricole Group and 20% by Société Générale.
The banks said the purpose of the flotation was to underpin the continuing development of Amundi and provide liquidity to Société Générale, which could end up selling its entire stake.
Amundi and Société Générale will continue their partnership after the IPO. The banks said Amundi will remain the provider of reference for savings and investment solutions for Société Générale's retail and insurance networks for a period of five years, renewable after that.
Crédit Agricole intends to retain a majority stake in Amundi.
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