(Reuters) - Private equity firm SVG Capital Plc (>> SVG Capital plc) said on Wednesday it received a proposal from a consortium that included Goldman Sachs Group Inc (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc) and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to acquire its investment portfolio.

SVG, which is fending off a $1.35 billion bid from U.S. rival HarbourVest, said it was "urgently" evaluating the proposal.

The statement comes a day after SVG said it would sell half of its investment portfolio for 379 million pounds and wind down operations by the end of 2017.

SVG said winding down would be a better option for its shareholders, compared to accepting the HarbourVest offer.

The company's proposal to wind down was backed by Standard Life Investments (>> Standard Life Plc), which holds a 2 percent stake.

Standard Life supported the SVG board's recommendation to maximise shareholder value by liquidating the portfolio in an orderly manner, a representative of the British insurer and asset manager said in an email on Wednesday.

Following SVG's statement, HarbourVest said late on Wednesday that Aviva Investors (>> Aviva plc) and Legal & General Investment Management (>> Legal & General Group Plc), which together own about 7.3 percent of SVG's shares, had withdrawn their letters of intent to vote in favour of its offer.

The Boston-based PE firm said earlier in the day that its offer gave the British company's shareholders a "clean break", compared with the risks associated with winding down operations.

SVG also said on Tuesday it had in-principle agreed to sell half of its investment portfolio to Pomona Capital and Pantheon Ventures at a 7.8 percent discount.

If that sale goes through, shareholders should get 288 pence per share in November and another 192 pence per share early in 2017, Liberum analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday.

SVG's shares closed down 0.5 percent at 653.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Sriraj Kalluvila)