Evolution arm seals buy from Kaupthing for less than £1m

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It beat off competition from 40 rival bidders including Numis Securities and WH Ireland. Lloyds TSB had showed interest early in the auction process. It had been thought Singer & Friedlander Investment Management could fetch as much as £10 million, but sources said the bids were worth less than £1 million.

The business was put up for sale after parent Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, the UK arm of nationalised Icelandic bank Kaupthing, was put into administration by the British Government. Williams de Broë will take on the investment management team of its troubled rival, although only 40 of the 50 staff are expected to make the move to its City HQ.

It also takes over the assets under management at Singer & Friedlander, which have plummeted from more than £3 billion before Kaupthing collapsed to £1.5 billion.

Despite rebranding its new business Williams de Broë, it will look to hold on to Singer & Friedlander's big-hitters, including chief investment officer Andrew Impey.

Evolution chief executive Alex Snow said: "We look forward to welcoming the team from Singer & Friedlander and their existing clients for whom we will continue to provide a professional and bespoke investment management service. Williams de Broë and Evolution remain extremely well-capitalised."

The deal came as staff at rival City stockbroker Teather & Greenwood are targeted by Icelandic investment bank Straumur-Burdaras, which recently pulled out of a deal to buy the business.