S.Africa's Old Mutual in talks to buy wealth firm Quilter Cheviot -report

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Sky News reported on Thursday that South African financial services group Old Mutual PLC (Other OTC: ODMTY - news) is in advanced talks to acquire Quilter Cheviot, which it said is Britain's second-biggest independent wealth manager, for about 650 million pounds($1.05 billion).

Citing sources, the report said that offer is about 50 million pounds more than London-listed Old Mutual offered for Quilter when it made its first approach in the summer. (http://bit.ly/1vPuR1v)

Sky News said there was no certainty a deal will be completed, noting that private equity firm Bridgepoint, owner of Quilter Cheviot, is still pursuing a stock market listing for Quilter.

Firms such as Investec PLC (LSE: INVP.L - news) have also considered a takeover of Quilter, although it was unclear if any formal offers have been made, the Sky report said.

Rothschild is advising Old Mutual, while Bridgepoint is being advised by Evercore Partners Inc (NYSE: EVR - news) , an investment bank, the report said.

Bridgepoint recently sold Finnish healthcare company Terveystalo to EQT, a Swedish private equity firm.

Quilter Cheviot declined to comment on the report. Old Mutual could not be reached immediately for comment.

($1=0.6205 British pounds) (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bangalore; Editing by Peter Galloway)