Fidelity International is working with investment bank Rothschild to find potential buyers for its fund platform in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Fidelity International is working with investment bank Rothschild to find potential buyers for its fund platform in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter.
The platform, FIL Fondsbank Gmbh, could attract interest from market infrastructure companies and private equity funds, they said. The business provides access to thousands of fund products for independent financial advisers, banks and asset managers in Germany and Austria.
The sale process is at an early stage and may not lead to a transaction, they said, asking not to be named because the process isn’t public. Fidelity declined to comment while representatives for Rothschild couldn’t be reached.
The Fidelity sale adds to a flurry of fund platform transactions, as banks look to free up capital by disposing of peripheral businesses to buyers that can offer economies of scale and technology upgrades. UBS Group AG sold its fund platform to Deutsche Boerse AG’s Clearstream in 2021, while DWS offloaded its digital investment service IKS to private equity firm BlackFin.
FIL Fondsbank offers more than 9,000 funds and 1,000 ETFs, making it one of the biggest independent platforms in Germany, according to its website. It manages €35.4 billion ($38.5 billion) and has roughly 650,000 accounts, as well as a banking license in Germany. It’s a small part of Fidelity International, which manages about $720 billion overall.
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