Rothschild sells up in Australia

INVESTMENT bank NM Rothschild has become the latest British company to quit the Australian funds management industry, announcing a A$323m (£120m) sale to Westpac Banking Corporation today.

Westpac will acquire Rothschild Australia Asset Management, which has A$10.6bn in funds under management, and become Australia's eighth-largest funds management business with A$34bn in its care.

The Rothschild operation has been up for sale since last year. The A$323m price tag was significantly lower than expected, partly due to a lack of bidders.

Other big Australian banks have all made major funds acquisitions over the last few years, and among foreign players the trend is to quit Australia rather than grow by acquisition. US group Franklin Templeton withdrew from the bidding.

Earlier this month, Royal & SunAlliance put its Australian and New Zealand funds business up for sale, with a price tag of up to A$600m.