The UK private banking business is being sold by German parent Commerzbank. Kleinwort was acquired when Commerzbank purchased Dresdner Bank from Allianz, the German insurance and financial services group, last year.

Kleinwort Benson is one of the UK’s oldest private banking firms. Commerzbank has received taxpayer funds from the German state and it must sell off non-domestic assets as a condition of receiving aid under European Union rules.

According to the news service, a deal of £200 million, ($319 million) or less is close to completion, with a management buyout an increasingly likely option.

WealthBriefing reported that final bids had been taken for the private bank earlier this month, though no organisations were named.

Kleinwort was unavailable to comment on the withdrawal of Close Brothers from the bidding when contacted by this publication.