The FT reported that a hedge fund chief executive, and acquaintance of Gilbert’s, said he has heard the sale rumours, and that the 60 year old CEO is “of the age where he needs to find a successor, and there is no one [appropriate] within the business today”.
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Aberdeen Asset Management global head of distribution and group management board member John Brett is stepping down from his role to “pursue a different career path”.
Martin Gilbert said: “John has done a fantastic job for us, particularly in integrating the acquisition of SWIP”.
A report suggested that co-founder and chief executive Martin Gilbert had been sounding out potential buyers after a fall in profitability, share price and assets under management.
“In his 32 years running Aberdeen, Martin Gilbert has never approached anyone, formally or informally, about buying the business”, a spokesman for Aberdeen said in an emailed statement.
Emerging markets, where much of its investments are based, have been highly volatile, with investors pulling out of the sector.
According to RBC analyst Peter Lenardos, a sale of Aberdeen is unlikely. Lenardos, who has an underperform rating on the stock, said he doesn’t believe there’s a sales process under way.
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Aberdeen has been struggling to reverse a share price slump and hold on to clients concerned over recent volatility in the company’s key markets in Asia. The stock has fallen 15.6 percent since the start of the year and the company’s market capitalisation now stands at £4.8 billion. “A potential buyer would clearly understand the challenges that Aberdeen is facing and reflect that in its determination of value for the company”. These included platform and discretionary fund manager Parmenion and U.S. private equity firm Flag Capital following the purchases of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and United States fund firm Artio in 2013.
