Allied Irish Bank set to sell Govett

GARTMORE, the global investment organisation, is in advanced talks to buy Govett Investments from Allied Irish Banks, Financial Mail has learned.

The Irish banking group, which manages funds worth more than £7 billion worldwide, has long been considering the future of Govett after a major review concluded it was not a core business.

AIB now concentrates on the business banking market, where it regularly wins accolades, rather than the personal sector in the UK.

It is believed that AIB's problems in America, where it uncovered a major hole in its balance sheet, accelerated the decision to sell Govett.

Govett Investments, in which AIB bought a majority stake in 1995 for £101 million, manages about £2.5 billion in funds. The remaining 25% is held by the company's management.

In the past, Govett, which launched a British Equity Bear Fund in June, just before the stock market began its strong rally, has attracted the attentions of Aberdeen Asset Management and New Star, the fund management operations run by John Duffield.

A spokesman for Gartmore, which has more than £48 billion in assets, was unavailable.