A Canadian bank is understood to be talking to Aviva about the sale of its stake in Tenet.
Ian Gotts, chairman of the Tenet Shareholders Action Group, said the movements in sterling have made investing in the UK financial advice industry more attractive.
He said: “There is a Canadian company speaking to Aviva. It is a big high street bank.
“We have got overseas interest in expanding their distribution into the UK because the dollar is strong and they have a saturated market.
“It is Aviva you have got to go through if you want to buy Tenet.”
Aviva declined to comment on Mr Gotts' remarks while Mike O’Brien, group regulatory director of Tenet, said: “Such stories appear on a regular basis but Tenet’s position remains the same: the company does not comment on speculation.”
FTAdviser contacted Royal Bank of Canada but it did not respond while Bank of Montreal declined to comment.
In October Mr Gotts said a number of American institutions were “running the rule” over Tenet in order to make a potential purchase.
Following the merger with Friends Life, Aviva is the largest single shareholder in Tenet, owning 47 per cent of the company.
Standard Life and Aegon are the other two main shareholders, with 23 per cent each.
The Tenet Shareholders Action Group owns 6 per cent of the company and is made up of various ex-directors of advice firms taken over by the network over the years.
Mr Gotts said he was pleased Tenet was piloting a restricted proposition, saying he had been pushing for it for a long time.
At the moment the company offers support to firms which want to set up their own restricted proposition.
But Tenet said there has been demand from advice firms for a ready-made restricted service, which is currently being trialled with two firms before being rolled out further next year.
damian.fantato@ft.com
