Mellon Financial is in advanced negotiations to acquire minority stake in WestAM, the asset management arm of the German Landesbank WestLB, Reuters reported today.
The Financial Times Deutschland also reported the same news today, suggesting the US custodian bank and fund manager would take a stake of up to 50 per cent. The deal would give Mellon, already one of the largest fund managers in the world, access to customers of the savings banks in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.
Separately, Reuters also reports that WestLB’s supervisory board is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the future of the bank’s investment banking chief, Manfred Puffer, who may be asked to resign his post after a sharp decline in earnings in the first half. WestLB Chief Executive Thomas Fischer has promised a restructuring of investment banking at the bank.