(Reuters) -Swiss lender UBS is in talks to sell its hedge fund unit, O’Connor, to U.S. brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Talks of the deal, which the report said could involve a revenue sharing agreement, come at a time when the Swiss bank is looking to divest some assets to streamline operations after the 2023 takeover of Credit Suisse.
O’Connor, an alternative investment platform, was bought in 1992 by Swiss Bank Corporation, which then merged with Union Bank of Switzerland in 1998 to become UBS.
O’Connor is now part of UBS Asset Management.
UBS declined to comment, while Cantor did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Cantor is chaired by Brandon Lutnick, son of the former Cantor boss and current U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
The company has been actively pursuing deals in recent months.
In April, it agreed to buy Canaccord Genuity’s U.S.-based wholesale market making business.
It also launched a $3.6 billion crypto venture in partnership with a consortium including Tether and SoftBank.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
