Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) is in talks to sell its 49 percent stake in a mutual fund joint venture with China’s Baosteel Group to global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, according to people familiar with the matter.

France’s second-biggest listed bank was among the first foreign companies to enter the Chinese mutual fund business when the authorities first opened the market up to foreign investors. In 2003, it teamed up with state-owned Baosteel Group, which operates China’s second-largest steelmaker, to create joint venture Fortune SG Fund Management.

But cut-throat competition from Chinese firms has led SocGen to rethink its presence in the country and comes after a string of foreign institutions, including Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), Aviva plc (AV.L) and Value Partners (0806.HK), sold their stakes in China mutual fund ventures.

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