By Angus Berwick
LONDON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (N:WFC) has no immediate plans to buy an asset manager in Britain, the U.S. bank's regional president said, after a newspaper report said it was considering moves for several firms.
The Sunday Times said the fourth largest U.S. bank was considering takeovers of British fund managers including Henderson (L:HGGH) and Jupiter (L:JUP) - worth 3.3 billion pounds ($5 billion) and 2.1 billion pounds respectively - to spearhead an expansion abroad.
But Jim Johnston, president of the bank's Europe, Middle East and Africa division, told Reuters: "We don't have any immediate plans to acquire a UK-based investment firm."
Analysts said the report was believable, but doubted any takeovers were imminent.
"The asset management industry is ripe for consolidation, with a bank, insurance company and/or larger asset manager all possible acquirers," Peter Lenardos, analyst for RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.
"The weaker British pound against the U.S. dollar makes a takeover of a UK-listed asset manager particularly attractive," he added.
The report follows speculation of other deals in the British asset management sector. Aberdeen Asset Management (L:ADN) denied in October a report that said it was looking for a buyer after an extended stock price decline..
Shares in both Henderson and Jupiter hit three-month highs following the report, although they handed back some of their gains following Wells Fargo's comments.