A multimillion-pound payout to Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, is in jeopardy amid faltering talks about a sale of the asset management business he cofounded.

Sky News has learnt that negotiations between Somerset Capital Management, in which Mr Rees-Mogg is a substantial shareholder, and prospective buyer Emso Asset Management have stalled in recent weeks.

Industry insiders suggested this weekend that a deal between Somerset and Emso, which could value the former business at roughly £30m, were now unlikely to result in a deal.

They cautioned, however, that another bidder could yet emerge for the firm, which Mr Rees-Mogg jointly founded with Dominic Johnson, who was recently ennobled and spent 26 days as minister for investment under Liz Truss.

Somerset is a specialist investor in emerging markets-based companies, an area that has been severely hit by deteriorating sentiment as confidence in the global economy has waned.

Reports in September suggested that Mr Rees-Mogg owned a shareholding in Somerset “in the low teens”, implying that a £30m sale of the company could be worth more than £3m to him.

Alongside Lord Johnson and Edward Robertson, a fund manager, the trio were said to have rejected a £90m takeover over from Artemis Investment Management three years ago.

King’s coronation should be ‘done properly’ despite cost of living crisis, Jacob Rees-Mogg says

Jacob Rees-Mogg says he has ‘confidence’ in Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey but disputes pension funds ‘at risk’

Minister issues warning as government energy support package kicks in to cover huge spike in bills

Mr Rees-Mogg, a staunch Brexit backer, was business secretary during Ms Truss’s ill-fated administration but resigned from government when Rishi Sunak was installed as her successor last month.

Spencer House, a specialist adviser to asset managers, is handling the sale process for Somerset.

Mr Rees-Mogg did not respond to a request for comment while Somerset could not be reached on Saturday.

Related posts:

NatWest braced for budget delay to privatisation target Tracking technology company Buddi banks on £500m float Bank of England’s chief economist announces new role Electric scooter company Voi revs up £120m funding drive The ranks of the ‘economically inactive’ are needed if worker shortage is to ease Virgin Media O2 tests waters with £3bn offer for TalkTalk Zahawi backs taskforce to aid London market’s global listings drive Nasstar-owner prepares £500m sale of cloud services provider Eurozone inflation rises far more than expected to hit record 10.7% Growing consumer caution evident as mortgage approvals and demand for borrowing ease BP quarterly profits of £7.1bn fan flames around stiffer windfall taxes Royal Mail data breach as customers’ information leaked to other users