Led by the Sunday Times, Henderson and Jupiter are reported to be on Wells Fargo’s list of acquisition targets.The fund groups are valued at £3.2bn and £2.1bn respectively.
Both asset managers’ stock jumped immediately following the news, with Wells Fargo shares spiking sharply downwards before recovering to previous levels in early trading.
Seen as one of the few US names to escape the financial crisis relatively intact, Wells Fargo beat Citigroup to the post in taking over Wachovia in 2008.
With $1.8trn (£1.2trn) in assets and 8,700 locations, it is the fourth largest bank in the US. Chief executive John Stumpf has made no secret of the group’s international expansion plans.
In an interview with International Adviser last year, managing director of Wells Fargo Asset Management said client demand was driving its push across Europe with a Paris office extension and into Dubai.
Demand was broad, coming from ranging from institutional clients, platforms, private banks, high net worth asset managers and the intermediary market with the UK named as its second most important jurisdiction, after Switzerland.
Henderson and Jupiter declined to comment. Wells Fargo was unavailable at the time of writing.
