According to a report in the Financial Times, the global investment management group Aberdeen Asset Management has begun to source a new potential buyer to put an end to its slump in share prices and profitability.

Europe’s second largest fund house, which recently suffered worst than analysts have predicted, are said to have made a number of informal approaches to different rivals.

Despite share prices for Aberdeen Asset Management falling by 25% over the last six months due to a hit by recent Asian stock markets, a spokesman for Aberdeen recently stated; “In his 32 years running Aberdeen, Martin Gilbert has never approached anyone, formally or informally, about buying the business,”

Aberdeen Asset Management have also addressed rumours that the chief executive, Martin Gilbert who co-founded the company in 1983, is currently looking for a successor with a source telling City A.M. that he is “as committed as he’s ever been.”

Shares in the group jumped as much as 7 per cent to 376.6 pence on Monday morning.