Cazenove Group PLC, the United Kingdom's oldest independent brokerage, which is reportedly being eyed by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers, said Tuesday that it was considering proposals and will not provide details until "the appropriate time."
"We are evaluating outline proposals which we have received from other firms," chairman David Mayhew, 64, said in an e-mailed statement. "This process is still a work in progress, and so there is no more that I am able to say."
The firm also said profit and revenue rose in the fiscal first quarter, which ended in July.
Cazenove, which in May said it was reviewing takeover approaches and planning an initial public offering, held its annual shareholder meeting Tuesday in London.
In recent days the Financial Times had reported that Cazenove, whose clients include Britain's royal family and BP PLC, was talking about the possibility of a joint venture with JPMorgan Chase and discussing sale to Lehman Brothers. All three have declined to comment on the reports.
JPMorgan Chase, the second-largest U.S. banking company, reportedly held talks with Cazenove executives in New York over the past two weeks about a joint venture that would combine Cazenove's brokerage and investment banking business with some of the U.S. company's British operation. Lehman had reportedly offered as much as $1.4 billion for Cazenove.
The company said Tuesday that revenue rose 49% in the fiscal first quarter, to $126 million.
The firm acts as broker for 42 of the United Kingdom's 100 biggest publicly traded companies, more than any other firm. Its client list includes GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Europe's No. 1 drugmaker. Corporate brokers, found only in the United Kingdom, help companies comply with stock market rules and act as a go-between with investors - a role that can lead to more lucrative assignments, such as equities underwriting and acquisition advisory.
"I'd much rather they stay independent," said Lindsay Bury, 65, the chairman of Henderson Electric and General Investment Trust PLC, a Cazenove client. "I don't want them to change; they're unique."
