Russian financial group Antanta PioGlobal has dampened speculation it is close to selling a majority stake to Standard Bank. Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported that shareholders in the Russian firm began discussing the sale of at least 51 per cent to Standard Bank in June. But Denis Matafonov, director for investments at Antanta Pioglobal, said a deal with any potential suitor was far from a certainty. He told WealthBriefing: "It seems to me that reporters overestimate the probability of the deal." Mr Matafonov suggested Antanta was lining up private equity buyers to take a 25 per cent stake in its asset management business Pioglobal rather than surrendering control of the group to one buyer. Antanta, which specialises in the brokerage of securities of medium-sized companies, was set up in June 2003. It acquired PioGlobal last year for $80 million from Russian bank CIT Finance, which was forced sell as part of a joint venture agreement with Beneleux bank Fortis. PioGlobal was originally established in 1995 by US fund giant Pioneer Investments which withdrew as a shareholder after its merger with Italy's UniCredit in 2000. Pioneer is currently setting up a new fund management venture from scratch in Moscow after failing to buy back PioGlobal last year. The team at PioGlobal runs six mutual funds and a number of private portfolios but has struggled to gain scale in a competitive and fast-growing market dominated by Troika, Renaissance, Alfa and new foreign entrants such as Fortis and Allianz. PioGlobal has assets under management of about €500 million. It also has a 52 per cent stake in a $150 million real estate fund which is not part of the sale.