A high street bank has completed a deal to sell a 50 per cent stake in its asset management arm, which offers multi-manager funds to UK advisers.

Banco Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, has completed a deal with two US private equity firms to sell a 50 per cent stake in its asset management arm, worth €2.05 billion [£1.75bn].

Santander has reached a deal with Warburg Pincus WP.UL and General Atlantic LLC in a deal believed to be in the region of €1 billion.

The group offers UK financial intermediaries a range of multi-manager funds managed by Tom Caddick and Toby Vaughan.

The sale of Santander Asset Management (SAM), made up of 11 separate money management businesses, is expected to net the Spanish giant a whopping £599 million profit.

SAM, valued at around £1.7 billion, currently manages around £130 billion worth of assets primarily in Europe and Latin America.

Speaking on the completion, which is awaiting regulatory confirmation, Banco Santander Chief Executive Javier Marin said: “This partnership puts Santander Asset Management at the forefront of the industry’s consolidation process.”

Santander, which is the eurozone's largest by market capitalisation, stated that it is reorganising its fund managers within a global holding company, of which the US firms will own half.

The bank hopes to double these assets in the next five years, in an effort to consulate the sector to compete with some of the world’s largest asset management companies.

Warburg Pincus, a global equity firm originating from New York, has previously invested into the Spanish Bank, with a $1 billion investment into Santander’s US consumer loan business in 2011.

General Atlantic Partners also has a history of investing in financial services, with a variety of US banks amongst its portfolio which includes over 50 from outside of the United States.