A pair of familiar private equity firms are rumored to be working on a deal to buy a publicly traded, money center bank's $607-billion-AUM asset management arm.

Nicolaas "Nico" Marais Wells Fargo Asset Management CEO

A PE consortium, led by GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners, is in exclusive talks with Wells Fargo & Co. to buy Wells Fargo Asset Management [profile], unnamed sources reportedly told Reuters. News broke back in October that the bank was looking to sell off WFAM for more than $3 billion.

Both leading PE players in the rumored deal may be familiar to fundsters. GTCR's current investments include CapTrust, a giant retirement plan and wealth management RIA, and Ultimus, a mutual fund back-office provider. And back in 2007, GTCR was rumored to be one of the losing bidders for a niche mutual fund shop. Financial services and technology is one of four areas of focus for GTCR, which is based in Chicago.

As for Reverence, the firm currently backs Russell Investments, Victory Capital, and Advisor Group. The New York City-based firm specifically focuses on investing in "middle-market financial services companies." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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