Lloyds has moved closer to a deal to sell Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) as part of ongoing efforts to streamline its business and boost its finances.
A deal to sell the asset management arm of Scottish Widows could be signed off within weeks. Aberdeen Asset Management, Macquarie and French fund manager Natixis are believed to be among the possible bidders.
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Media reports suggest that the bidders are reluctant to pay the asking price of between £400 million and £500 million for SWIP.
However, a deal is likely to be struck within the next two months, and could be sealed by the end of October.
Lloyd’s chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, has been mulling the sale of SWIP for some time. The key rationale of the SWIP sale is to fulfil Osorio’s plans to focus on its core business of UK retail banking and lending to firms.
In April Lloyds had appointed Deutsche Bank to advice on the potential sale in a bid to boost capital following the Prudential Regulation Authority’s announcement there was a £27.1 billion shortfall in the capital of the UK’s biggest banks including Lloyds.
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By GlobalDataLloyds acquired SWIP’s parent Scottish Widows for £7.3 billion in 2000.
