Macquarie Group Ltd challenged Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in a bid for Scottish Windows Investment Partnership (SWIP). This was a according to a report posted by Bloomberg.

Last month, Aberdeen announced its plan to acquire the Lloyd Banking Group Plc company, which holds around GBP146 billion (USD235 billion) in assets. The company said it would pay for the planned acquisition using new shares for Lloyds. Further payments would be made in cash over time. Following the announcement, Aberdeen shares in London trading dropped 4.6% to 422.2 pence. This was the biggest drop since August 21, according to the report.

Macquarie, the biggest investment bank in Australia, said it would would offer GBP500 million in cash for SWIP within the next couple of weeks, said the report.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Peter Lenardos said: "Aberdeen can afford to pay cash for the unit, but they would have to do a share placing first. We will are probably going to see a run for the finish line here, but anything above 500 to 550 million pounds I would strongly encourage Aberdeen to step away."