May 30 (Reuters) - British investment firm Alliance TrustPlc said it had received an informal merger approachfrom RIT Capital Partners Plc, which is chaired byfinancier Jacob Rothschild.
Alliance, which has recently seen the exit of its chiefexecutive and chairwoman, said RIT had not provided any detailedterms regarding the proposal.
The firm has been under pressure to improve the performanceand reduce its discount to net asset value from activistinvestor Elliott Advisors, which holds a stake of about 16percent according to regulatory filings.
Alliance added it had hired Canaccord Genuity to advise thecompany on a strategic review, and that any formal mergerproposal from RIT would be incorporated into the review.
RIT could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru and SimonJessop in London; Editing by Alexander Smith)
