Abrdn to sell private equity arm as Bird reshapes funds giant

Jul 19, 2022

One of Britain’s biggest fund managers is preparing to offload the business which manages private equity funds as part of its ongoing streamlining under chief executive Stephen Bird.

Sky News has learnt that abrdn has hired investment bankers to find a buyer for the division, which managed nearly £14bn in assets at the end of last year.

Rothschild has been appointed to oversee the process, City sources said on Tuesday.

It represents the latest phase of a reshaping of abrdn which has been gathering pace under Mr Bird, who joined the company then known as Standard Life Aberdeen two years ago.

His most ambitious deal was the £1.5bn takeover of Interactive Investor, which recently completed, catapulting abrdn into the top ranks of Britain’s direct-to-consumer investment providers.

Mr Bird has outlined a strategy to simplify the sprawling company, exiting a number of non-core businesses and focusing on areas where it already has the advantage of scale.

The company will report half-year results next month which analysts say will reflect highly volatile equity markets and continued fund outflows.

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Abrdn managed close to £550bn in assets at the end of last year.

It is understood that the sale of its private equity funds business could take several months.

Abrdn declined to comment.

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