Jupiter to sell £100m stake in Starling Bank at steep discount on April valuation
FTSE 250 asset manager Jupiter is in advanced talks to sell a £100m stake in Starling Bank at a heavy discount on its most recent valuation of £2.5bn.
Jupiter Fund Management is in talks with several of the challenger bank’s existing investors, with a view to offloading a seven per cent share in the firm, Sky News first reported.
The London listed asset manager, which owns a 10 per cent stake in the digital bank, is seeking to sell the stake for around £100m, in a deal that would value Starling at just £1.5bn.
Alongside Jupiter, Starling Bank’s main shareholders include pension fund Railpen, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Starling founder Anne Boden, and a division of Goldman Sachs.
Starling’s £2.5bn valuation came after the bank raised a £130.5m this April to finance its expansion plans.
The sharp discount on the bank’s April valuation comes as technology company shares prices have plummeted over the past year.
Jupiter’s UK mid-cap fund, of which the Starling stake is the largest holding, is currently down 20 per cent over the past three years.