Nationwide-owned Gartmore Investment Management is in the early stages of planning an initial public offering, reports U.K. paper the Independent.

According to the Independent, Gartmore plans to raise £1 billion ($1.82 billion) through an IPO on the London exchange.

"Nationwide continuously assesses the strategies of all its businesses, including asset management and consideration of a potential initial public offering of our Gartmore subsidiary. We do not comment on speculation and, as is our policy, and we will only issue announcements if specific developments warrant," wrote Gartmore spokesman Edward Dunn.

U.K.-based spokeswoman Vee Montebello however, told Bloomberg that Gartmore is at the first stage of planning the deal, although "[n]othing is set in stone and no banks have been appointed."

Nationwide purchased Gartmore for £1 billion from the Bank of Scotland in 2000, after the bank took over Gartmore from National Westminster Bank earlier that year. Gartmore is slated to name advisors for the deal by the end of the year, according to the Independent.

A later report by Reuters quoted an unidentified company spokesperson saying that "Gartmore will not IPO in the next 3 to 4 months. It is something that will be looked at alongside a number of other options further down the line."

Gartmore manages approximately $78 billion in assets. Nationwide owns 80 percent of Gartmore and Gartmore employees own 20 percent, according to Bloomberg.  

Correction: This story was updated to include comments from Edward Dunn, Gartmore spokesman. Nationwide purchased Gartmore for £1 billion from the Bank of Scotland in 2000, not £1 as previously written.

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