Aberdeen 'in talks' over SWIP acquisition - reports

Aberdeen Asset Management is said to be in talks to buy Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP).

Lloyds Banking Group, SWIP's parent company, has been mulling a sale of its investment management arm for some time. Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is seeking to strengthen the firm's balance sheet through the sale, following the bank's government bailout in 2008. Most recently, Threadneedle's parent Ameriprise was reported as the key bidder for the business, but the firm ruled out the acquisition earlier in the year.  Aberdeen's chief executive Martin Gilbert has also previously said it was 'extremely unlikely' the group would acquire SWIP, but seems to have changed h...