Earlier this year there was speculation Close Brothers, run by Preben
Prebensen, could consider selling Winterflood Securities, one of London’s
biggest market-makers. However, sources said the speculation is wide of the
mark and the group is unlikely to sell Winterflood Securities, which some
observers believe could be worth up to £500m.

Close Brothers was founded by William Brooks Close in 1878. Initially the
company provided farm mortgages in Iowa and then financed the first railway
in Alaska.

In the 1990s the lending bank grew via a series of acquisitions, including
Winterflood Securities, in 1993. It then snapped up Rea Brothers in 1999 to
form the basis of the company’s high net worth asset management and offshore
businesses.