(Adds detail, background)
May 30 (Reuters) - British investment firm Alliance TrustPlc said on Monday it had received an informal mergerapproach from RIT Capital Partners Plc, which is chairedby financier Jacob Rothschild.
Alliance, which manages about 3.4 billion pounds ($5billion) of assets, said RIT had not provided any detailed termsregarding the proposal.
RIT, which manages about 2.4 billion pounds worth of assets,could not immediately be reached for comment.
The approach, first reported by the Financial Times, followsa battle between Alliance and activist investor Elliott Advisorswhich saw the exit of both the company's chief executive and itschairwoman last year.
Elliott, which holds a stake of about 16 percent accordingto regulatory filings, has pressured Alliance to improve itsshare performance and reduce its discount to net asset value.
Alliance appointed Robert Smith as chairman earlier thisyear as part of a major overhaul, and added that it had hiredCanaccord Genuity to advise the company on a strategic review.
Any formal merger proposal from RIT will be incorporatedinto the review, the company said.($1 = 0.6837 pounds) (Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru and SimonJessop in London; Editing by Alexander Smith)
