Pioneer’s price too high for Aberdeen

The price tag of Unicredit’s asset management arm, Pioneer Investments, has forced Aberdeen Asset Management to withdraw from the bidding process.

Pioneer is valued at €3.5 billion which Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen’s chief executive (pictured), said was not affordable.

Gilbert confirmed the action at FundForum Mena, an industry conference in the Middle East, yesterday. Aberdeen had made it through to the second round of bidding before withdrawing.

Pioneer has been on the market for some time. A recent agreement, which would have seen Unicredit and Spanish bank Santander merge their asset management businesses, stalled.

At the time, Unicredit cited a failure to meet “regulatory requirements” as the reason.

Other interested parties include Amundi, Macquarie and a group made up of Poste Italiane, Anima Holding and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

Yves Perrier, chief executive of Amundi, has pursued Pioneer for a number of years – and so could be buoyed by the loss of a competitor in the bidding process.

©2016 funds europe

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