Crédit Agricole has set a deadline of January 31 to reach agreement with Italy's Banca Intesa about whether to join forces to create Europe's seventh-largest fund manager, with €655bn ($829bn) in assets.

Agricole recently signed a deal with Intesa giving the Milan-headquartered bank the go-ahead for a €30bn takeover of Sanpaolo IMI. In return for its agreement, Crédit Agricole - one of Intesa's largest shareholders with a 17.8% stake prior to the merger - gained control of the Italian bank's 654-strong retail network.