GLOBAL - Deutsche Bank looks set to keep its alternative asset management arm RREEF after failing to reach a deal with prospective buyer Guggenheim Partners.
In a statement, Deutsche Bank said: "The parties were unable to agree on terms for the sale of the business and mutually agreed to end exclusive negotiations."
A spokesman for the bank said talks had concluded following irresolvable disagreement over the value of the business, which manages €44.4bn in real estate and infrastructure assets globally.
Although the bank is not disclosing the figures discussed, the spokesman said the disagreement had been not only on price but "on the whole package".
Exclusive negotiations between Deutsche Bank and Guggenheim Partners on the future of RREEF began in May after the partners agreed to end discussions on the potential sale of other units, including the global institutional asset management business.
The conclusion of talks this week will likely put an end to Deutsche Bank's plans to sell the business following a strategic view of its asset management business started in November 2011.
Although it will not release a statement on the review's findings until September, earlier this month new co-CEO Ashu Jain said asset management was "core" to the bank's operations.
In a speech last week to the German Economic Council, Jain described the ‘universal banking' business model that includes asset management as "resilient", adding: "We, at Deutsche Bank, remain committed to the universal banking model."
RREEF could become part of a new business division, Asset and Wealth Management, to created from the existing businesses.
The bank spokesman appeared to confirm this would be the case, saying: "RREEF will remain part of the new Deutsche Bank. We have four pillars for the future, and asset management is one of them."
