Goldman Sachs held takeover talks with Northern Trust – report

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) held takeover talks with Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) earlier this year as the firm is on the hunt for a large acquisition. Northern Trust rose 3.5% in pre-market trading.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) nearly came to a deal for $6 billion private-markets specialist Cliffwater, though fell apart over price, according to a Semafor report on Monday, which cited people familiar with the matter. Cliffwater is a consultant-turned-money manager with $120 billion in assets.

Talks with Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS), which has a market value of $24 billion, could potentially resume as the company is in play after a report last month that Bank of New York Mellon (BK) recently talked to Northern Trust (NTRS) about a potential merger. Goldman is also looking at the world of low-fee ETFs, where it has had issues growing.

Goldman declined to comment to Semafor on its report.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is looking for a large “needle-moving” acquisition after the firm’s failed move into consumer banking and as Goldman’s stock is at all-time highs, up 47% from a year ago, according to the report.