The Spanish banking behemoth is one of a handful of parties interested in acquiring the abrdn unit that maintains investments in private equity funds.
The Spanish banking behemoth Santander is in talks to acquire the £14 billion private equity business of the British fund manager abrdn.
Santander Asset Management is one of the few parties competing to acquire abrdn’s company.
Sources say abrdn and a buyer will strike a £250 million deal in the coming months.
In recent weeks, at least one other party has been involved in discussions, although a source close to Fidelity International has denied that the company is contemplating a deal.
Standard Life Investments, which merged with Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017, left the business abrdn is selling. The division handles investments in private equity funds.
Under Stephen Bird, abrdn has divested non-core assets and spent £1.5 billion to purchase Interactive Investor.
City analysts expect an average pre-tax profit of £228 million from Mr. Bird’s full-year earnings later this month.
It is anticipated that assets under management have decreased to $502 billion.
Abrdn had a £4.3 billion market value on Friday, trading at 213 pence per share.
