Brooks Macdonald, the London-listed asset manager, is stalking its rival fund house 7IM after seeing a £300m takeover proposal rebuffed late last year.

Sky News has learnt that Brooks Macdonald, which has a market value of about £370m, approached 7IM’s controlling shareholder, Caledonia Investments, shortly before Christmas about a deal.

The approach, which was rejected, was not disclosed to the stock market and has not been previously reported.

City sources said on Wednesday that Brooks Macdonald remained keen to acquire 7IM and was likely to express renewed interest in the coming months, although there were no active talks between them.

The two businesses are of a similar size in terms of funds under management, with Brooks Macdonald managing about £17bn and 7IM just over £20bn.

Even with a combined £37bn or more under management, a merged group would be a minnow in the context of the asset management sector’s larger players.

7IM was acquired by Caledonia in 2015 in a deal worth about £100m.

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Since then, 7IM has bought two other firms: Tcam Asset Management and Partners Wealth Management.

The UK asset management sector has seen a buoyant level of deal activity in recent months, part of which has involved the City veteran Martin Gilbert, whose Assetco vehicle recently struck an agreement to buy River and Mercantile Group.

Spokespeople for Brooks Macdonald and Caledonia declined to comment.

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