Aldermore owner mulls splitting group as Investec circles banking unit

Aldermore s owner is set to make a decision over whether to split up the group after attracting bids that excluded its motor finance division, City AM can reveal. South African lender Firstrand put Aldermore on the sales block in April this year and received initial interest from around a dozen suitors, sources said.  The process has been narrowed down to its last few bidders, who are seeking to buy either parts or the entirety of the bank. The companies still in the running include Lloyds, Investec and a joint-bid from private equity firms Warburg and Cerberus. Investec, which is dual-headquartered in the UK and South Africa, is one of the front runners circling the banking unit but is keen to avoid Motonovo, the group’s loss-making motor finance lender. Analysts at RBC expected the wider Aldermore group to fetch a price tag of between £1.1bn and £1.6bn. Aldermore suitors shun motor finance arm City AM revealed in September Britain’s biggest building society Nationwi