PARIS (Reuters) - Rothschild & Co (>> ROTHSCHILD & CO) and Compagnie Financiere Martin Maurel (>> MARTIN MAUREL(FIN)) said they plan to merge, a move that will combine their French private banking and asset management businesses and create a private bank with combined assets under management of about 34 billion euros ($38.6 billion).

The deal values Martin Maurel at 240 million euros, and the transaction would be financed by a mixture of newly issued Rothschild & Co shares, Rothschild & Co's own cash resources and external credit facilities, the banks said in a statement.

Martin Maurel shareholders will receive either 126 Rothschild & Co shares per existing share or can sell their existing shares in cash, the banks said. The Maurel family would receive Rothschild & Co shares.

The deal is expected to have a "modestly positive impact" on earnings per share from the first full year after the merger, before cost savings, the companies added.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Stocks treated in this article : ROTHSCHILD & CO, MARTIN MAUREL(FIN)