Asset manager Jupiter Fund Management is in discussions about selling part of its stake in Starling Bank, it was reported on Thursday.
The London-listed firm is understood to be in advanced talks with several other investors about offloading part of its 10% holding in the digital bank, according the Sky News. Starling’s other investors include the Qatar Investment Authority and asset manager Fidelity.
Jupiter is set to make around £100m from the sale, Sky added, with the deal likely to complete “within weeks”. It is thought Jupiter is looking to sell around 7% of its holding.
However, citing unnamed sources “close to the situation”, Sky said the discussions had settled on a valuation of around £1.5bn for the online lender. In April, a new funding injection gave Starling a valuation closer to £2.5bn.
Neither Jupiter nor Starling have commented on the report.
Starling was founded by Anne Boden in 2014 and launched its first personal current account in 2017. A provider of both personal and business banking, it now has around 3m accounts. Of those, around 450,000 are small business accounts, giving it a 7.5% share of the UK SME banking market.
