Neither Bank of Ireland nor Irish Life & Permanent was among those that lodged bids for Ulster Bank Investment Managers (UBIM) by yesterday's deadline for receipt of indicative bids, industry sources have said.
A spokesman for Ulster Bank declined to reveal how many bids had been received by the close of business yesterday but it is understood that some of the Irish financial institutions once seen as possible buyers of the company did not submit bids.
In addition to Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent, which is also interested in Ulster Bank itself, Anglo Irish Bank did not submit a bid while Friends First is thought unlikely to have done so.
All the Irish financial institutions were seen initially as possible bidders for the fund management company but it now appears the main interest yesterday may have come from overseas.
UBIM was expected to attract strong interest from fund managers in Britain, the US and Europe.
Among the overseas companies named as possible bidders in recent weeks were: Investec, the South African bank which recently acquired Gandon; CGU, which is in the process of taking over Hibernian; and Germany's Commerz bank.
UBIM's management is believed to favour a link-up with an international fund management group which would open up greater opportunities for the company than would be available if it were simply absorbed into an existing Irish institution's fund management operation.
The company, which has €7.4 billion (£5.8 billion) under management and a host of bluechip pension fund and institutional clients, is expected to fetch at least £100 million.
It is expected that the indicative bids will be whittled down to a final shortlist of three or four bidders, which will then be asked to lodge detailed formal bids for UBIM.
A final decision is likely by the end of March.
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