UK investment management firm Rathbone Brothers PLC (LON:RAT) has confirmed media reports that it is in talks to buy Scottish rival Speirs & Jefferey.
Rathbone said in a statement on Monday that there can be no certainty that a binding offer for Speirs & Jeffrey will be made and it will make a further announcement when appropriate.
The announcement follows a Daily Telegraph report over the weekend that Rathbone and private equity business Permira were preparing a bidding war for Speirs & Jefferey in an estimated £200mln deal.
Last year Rathbone and Permira’s majority-owned wealth manager, Tilney, were embroiled in a bidding war for Smith & Williamson.
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Speirs & Jefferey, a stockbroker and wealth manager, is understood to have appointed advisers at Spencer House Partners to help it find a buyer.
The Scottish firm, run by chief executive Russell Crichton, manages about £5.5mln of assets for trusts, individuals, pension funds and families.
It posted revenues of £5.3mln and pre-tax profits of £9mln in 2017.