LCL acquires Milleis to counter Revolut and target €9 trillion in savings

With Revolut poised to enter the lending market, LCL is responding by completing the major acquisition of the Milleis group. The stakes are high: securing a share of the €9 trillion in savings set to pass to younger generations over the coming years.

After months of negotiations, LCL and Crédit Agricole Assurances have confirmed their purchase of the Milleis group. Described by Serge Magdeleine, LCL’s chief executive, as the “largest transaction in 25 years” for the bank, the deal creates a new heavyweight in wealth management.

By taking over France’s third-largest independent private bank, LCL is moving into a different league. The group immediately gains 64,000 client families and €13 billion in assets under management. While the acquisition is complete, its approach is carefully calibrated: Milleis’s 700 employees, branch network and, crucially, its brand will be retained. The aim is to exceed €100 billion in private-banking assets under management by 2030.

Crédit Agricole Assurances, meanwhile, will take control of Milleis Vie, strengthening Spirica, its division focused on high-end life insurance. This move sits squarely within Crédit Agricole’s ACT 2028 strategic plan, which seeks to accelerate growth among affluent clients while delivering a robust return on investment for shareholders.

The “great shift” in savings

The opportunity is enormous. As Serge Magdeleine explained on BFMTV, €9 trillion will transfer from baby boomers to the generations that follow. This unprecedented wealth transfer, which he calls the “great shift in savings”, requires traditional banks to rethink their entire model.

“The heirs and young entrepreneurs have different banking needs from their parents,” the LCL chief executive argues. These new customers want a blended experience that combines human expertise with advanced digital tools. By acquiring Milleis, a more agile brand seen as more modern than established banking networks, LCL is therefore building a broader offering.

The bank hopes this will help it win over younger clients who may otherwise abandon high-street banks for more innovative alternatives.

Positioning against the rise of neobanks

This push is no coincidence, as the banking industry undergoes profound change. Players such as Revolut and N26 are growing rapidly, attracting millions of users through highly streamlined interfaces and innovative services. The British neobank is also expected to obtain its own banking licence in France shortly, enabling it to offer lending products and compete directly with established banks on their own ground.

Serge Magdeleine nevertheless puts this digital agility into perspective. Although he says he is “admiring” of the digital experience delivered by neobanks, he notes that “it takes five years to create a digital experience, but it takes 50 years to build trust and provide credit”.

The ambition for Milleis is therefore to develop a hybrid platform. Its role will extend beyond account management, as it is also intended to attract independent wealth management advisers. The group has not ruled out further acquisitions to reinforce this business. In practical terms, LCL wants to bring together the best of both worlds: the modernity of new banking habits and the strength of a 160-year-old institution.

Our analysis:

With full banking licences approaching for digital giants such as Revolut, alongside the growing influence of fully automated wealth-management platforms, established players can no longer rely solely on their legacy. They are caught in a squeeze: on one side, they must overcome a substantial technology gap to provide a frictionless mobile experience. On the other, they need to demonstrate that their human expertise still warrants management fees that are often higher than those charged by newer entrants.

By acquiring a more flexible business such as Milleis, LCL shows that historical trust alone will no longer be enough to preserve its dominance without a modern technology layer and the ability to appeal to Generation Z heirs.