State-run Bank of India is set to acquire 51 per cent of Indian asset manager Bharti Axa Investment Managers from the firm's two joint venture partners, according to local media.

BoI and AXA Investment Managers Asia Holdings, part of the Axa Group, have entered into a joint venture in the asset management business carried on by Bharti AXA Investment Managers, the asset management company to Bharti AXA Mutual Fund.

In the proposed joint venture, BoI will acquire 51 per cent of the equity and the balance will be with the AXA Group. Ernst & Young India was the advisor to the transaction  AXA Investment Managers is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. 

Headquartered in France, AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with about €514 billion ($689 billion) in assets under management as at the end of September, 2011, stated a press release issued jointly by BoI and AXA IM.

AXA IM employs nearly 2,400 people around the world.