Aberdeen Asset Management, one of four bidders reportedly vying for Unicredit’s asset management arm Pioneer Investments, would need raise serious amounts of capital quickly if it wanted to make a successful acquisition in the short-term.

Aberdeen, along with an Italian consortium led by Poste Italiane, Australia's Macquarie and European asset manager Amundi are each considering takeover bids for Pioneer, sources claim.

Pioneer has assets under management of €220m of which 55% is in fixed income, 24% in multi-asset, 19% equities and 2% in money market.

UniCredit, Italy’s largest lender, has lost more than half its market value since the start of the year over concerns about non-performing loans and the Italian banking sector.

The bank has been trying to offload Pioneer for some time in order to improve its own capital position. A deal to combine the investment house with Santander’s asset management arm fell through this summer because of regulatory obstacles.

Reports suggest Amundi is prepared to offer €4bn for the investment firm, which would exceed the €3bn JP Morgan analysts estimate the company to be worth.

Amundi previously attempted to join forces with Pioneer Investments in 2011 but the deal was blocked by the Bank of Italy,  owing to a fear of losing a large domestic buyer of Italian sovereign bonds.

Meanwhile, the problem with Aberdeen's approach, according to Numis analyst David McCann, is that Unicredit needs cash and Aberdeen doesn't have it.

“Aberdeen would need to raise material new capital and this would take time, putting it at a disadvantage to some other bidders in the process (that do have some cash)," McCann wrote in a note to clients. 

"That said, Aberdeen is a serial deal-making company, so nothing can be ruled out. In our view, Aberdeen has a good track record of synergy delivery and this deal would also increase group diversification."

McCann added that he sees the appeal of M&A given a current industry backdrop of low organic growth, fee margin pressure and rising regulatory costs.