The company said in a statement following a newspaper report that the discussions were ongoing and there was no certainty that they would lead to a deal.

Britain's Sunday Times reported that Brewin Dolphin is competing with Allied Irish Banks (AIB) to buy Investec's private client stockbroking business, with a price tag of up to 60 million euros ($68 million).

London-based Rathbones is also interested in the business, the Sunday Times said. AIB and Rathbones declined to comment, while Investec did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Akshay Balan in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alexander Smith)