AMP Limited (ASX:AMP) could be in the box seat to buy Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC)'s wealth management unit, with sources suggesting the listed financial group has put in a final offer for the company. Final bids for the unit were due on August 22. Sources say Colonial First State lobbed a bid that may have been as low as $600 million.

There have been suggestions that AMP did not put in a final offer by the deadline, but it now may be in talks with an offer submitted at a higher price. Colonial First State is jointly owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and CBA. In the first round of the contest, CFS was thought to have been the only group to have put forward a conforming bid.

Earlier, it was thought that AMP would not be able to compete with other parties vying for Westpac's wealth unit. Private equity firm names that have been discussed as being around the situation are Bain Capital, JC Flowers and Apollo Global Management, which is a major shareholder in Challenger. The timeline for the sale process was extended, as bidders focused on the wealth management unit's performance up until the end of the June 30 financial year.

Advising on the sale of Westpac's wealth management unit, which includes its Panorama platform, is investment bank Morgan Stanley. Already, Westpac has offloaded the superannuation operations in its wealth management unit to Mercer Australia for $225 million.