UK fund firm Alliance Trust gets RIT Capital merger approach

(Reuters) - British investment firm Alliance Trust Plc (ATST.L) said on Monday it had received an informal merger approach from RIT Capital Partners Plc (RCP.L), which is chaired by financier Jacob Rothschild.

Alliance, which manages about 3.4 billion pounds ($5 billion) of assets, said RIT had not provided any detailed terms regarding the proposal.

RIT, which manages about 2.4 billion pounds worth of assets, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The approach, first reported by the Financial Times, follows a battle between Alliance and activist investor Elliott Advisors which saw the exit of both the company's chief executive and its chairwoman last year.

Elliott, which holds a stake of about 16 percent according to regulatory filings, has pressured Alliance to improve its share performance and reduce its discount to net asset value.

Alliance appointed Robert Smith as chairman earlier this year as part of a major overhaul, and added that it had hired Canaccord Genuity to advise the company on a strategic review.

Any formal merger proposal from RIT will be incorporated into the review, the company said.

($1 = 0.6837 pounds)

(Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Alexander Smith)