T. Rowe Price is among those in talks to purchase a stake in India's third largest money management firm, UTI Asset Management Co., The Wall Street Journal's John Satish Kumar and Shefali Anand report in Tuesday's Fund Track column.

A T. Rowe spokesman declined to comment.

UTI's chief marketing officer, Jaideep Bhattacharya, said his company is in discussions with many foreign firms and one domestic player. UTI is looking to sell a stake of as much as 26 percent.

Besides T. Rowe, another U.S.-based fund firm's name cropped up as a possible purchaser of the stake. The Press Trust of India reported that Vanguard is interested in UTI, which ended November with AUM of $383.58 rupees ($7.92 billion). A Vanguard spokeswoman, however, said the company is not looking into buying a stake in UTI, nor has it held any talks with the latter.

The Press Trust of India also named Japan's Shinsei Bank as a a possible strategic partner for UTI.

U.S.-based asset managers that have subsidiaries in India include Fidelity and Franklin Templeton. 

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