Seymour Pierce breaking-up

THE final bell rang today on an extraordinary City punch-up which now leads at last to the break-up of the Seymour Pierce Group.

Seymour Pierce, headed by colourful banker and sometime boss of the Football League Keith Harris, has spent much of this year dismembering itself.

Most notably it sold its investment banking business to its management backed by Alchemy venture capitalists.

Today it finally got rid of its fund management arm - but not without an unseemly bout of fisticuffs which, with big City personalities clashing, derailed original plans.

Seymour's Pavilion Asset Management was meant to be sold lock, stock and barrel to John Duffield's rival New Star. But Pavilion's major client MGM Assurance, accounting for half of its £3bn under management, did not want to go.

After months of what insiders have called 'unbelievably difficult' negotiations, MGM, headed by ex-Merrill Lynch deal-doer Christopher Reeves, has bought itself out of its contract with Pavilion and has decided to place its business with Reeves' old firm.

The rest of Pavilion's business is now going to New Star and the out-turn to Seymour is £6.75m, which with previous deals effectively leaves shareholders with about 2 1/2p a share in cash plus a share in a small 'wealth management' business.

Shares in Seymour Pierce, more than £1 at the height of the stock market boom, were steady today at 2 3/4p.