Nicola Horlick's newly launched asset management firm Bramdean has made an approach to buy Deutsche Bank's British fund management arm, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Ms Horlick, who became one of Britain's best known fund managers partly because of a public row with Deutsche when she worked for the bank in the 1990s, has asked for details on the terms of the sale, the source said.
"Bramdean is keen to grow critical mass and Deutsche is one of the more interesting businesses to have come up for sale," the source said. "Clearly Horlick has some past knowledge of it, so it is not surprising she is having a look."
But Ms Horlick declined to comment. "I'm not prepared to confirm or deny whether we are looking at them," she told Reuters in an interview at her London offices.
"We are interested in anything for sale," she said. Deutsche said in December that it would review the future of its UK fund business, which had assets under management of €78.5 billion at the end of 2004.
"That review is still ongoing," spokesman Esther Nass-Fetzmann said. A decision is likely by the end of April.
Deutsche appointed financial consultancy firm Hawkpoint at the end of February to advise on a possible sale of the UK unit.
"A sale is the most likely scenario, but it has not been decided," a second source close to the process said. Hawkpoint has been appointed "to see who is interested and to see what appetite there is in the market".
One of the most recognisable women in London's traditionally male-dominated financial industry, Ms Horlick took the helm as chief executive of Bramdean Asset Management late last year, and the firm opened for business in January.
Bramdean has two complementary divisions. One will provide a multi-manager product for institutional and private clients and the other will give advice to institutional customers.
Ms Horlick is bullish about her firm's prospects, which she said aims to exploit the shift away from pension funds using one investment manager towards greater use of specialists.
The Bramdean venture follows her decision to step down as chief executive of Societe Generale's British asset management business last year. She took SG Asset Management from launch to its five-year target of £5.0 billion of assets under management in just two and a half years.
Ms Horlick built her reputation as an able fund manager at City of London institutions Mercury Asset Management, now Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and Morgan Grenfell Asset Management - bought by Deutsche Bank in 1990.
But she really caught the eye of the media in 1997 when Morgan Grenfell suspended her just days after she was promoted to managing director.
Ms Horlick was accused of trying to defect with her team to a rival. She resigned but was catapulted onto the front pages of the British papers when she turned up on her employer's doorstep with a posse of journalists to confront Morgan Grenfell.
She later flew to Frankfurt to put her case directly to Morgan Grenfell's owners, Deutsche Bank.
Analysts have speculated for some time that Deutsche is likely to sell its UK asset management business, which has been leaking funds from institutional clients for several quarters.
Analysts have said the expected selling price for such a business would be around one per cent of the assets under management, or €785 million.
Under an overhaul of the unit Deutsche Bank is moving managers of its asset-management business from London to its Frankfurt headquarters.