British investment manager abrdn is planning to offload its private equity arm as chief executive Stephen Bird looks to streamline the company, reported Sky News citing sources familiar with the matter.  

The fund manager, which was previously known as Standard Life Aberdeen, hired investment bankers at Rothschild to manage the sale process and find suitable buyers for the business.

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Abrdn’s private equity arm managed around £14bn in assets at the end of last year. The sale process is expected to take several months.

abrdn and Rothschild did not comment on the news.

The development comes as abrdn enters into the second phase of restructuring process under Bird, who took its helm two years ago.

Bird aims to streamline the company’s operations by divesting some of its non-core businesses while strengthening its focus on areas where it already has the benefit of scale, according to the report.

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In May this year, abrdn concluded its £1.5bn takeover of Interactive Investor, a subscription-based investment platform.

Said to be one of Bird’s most ambitious deals, it helped the firm drive growth opportunities within the UK’s rapidly evolving direct investing market and bolster its Personal vector capabilities.

Last month, the fund manager scrapped a deal to purchase Exo Investing and instead, agreed to make an undisclosed investment in Exo’s parent company, Nucoro.

abrdn pulled out of the deal after the companies concluded that a strategic partnership and investment into Nucoro was of more strategic value.

In March, the firm confirmed that its exposure to Russian assets was only limited.