Aberdeen Asset Management is to pay £250 million for Credit Suisse's fund management arm in an all-share deal, it said today.

The acquisition will turn the Scottish group into Britain's largest independent fund manager.

Credit Suisse will become Aberdeen's biggest shareholder as a result of the transaction as the Swiss bank will take a 25 per cent stake in the UK fund management group.

Aberdeen currently runs a business with around £110 billion worth of assets under management and will acquire an additional £40 billion worth.

The purchase will help to turn Aberdeen, which is run by Martin Gilbert, into a global player with operations in the US, Asia and across Europe, although job cuts at the division are likely when it takes over.

Credit Suisse will be entitled to appoint a non-executive director to Aberdeen's board under the terms of the deal.

The bank put the business up for sale earlier this year. A rival cash offer was understood to have been made by Schroders but it is thought to have pulled out as Credit Suisse wanted to complete the sale before the end of the year.

Securing Credit Suisse's asset management business is the latest in a series of big deals for Aberdeen, which beat BNP Paribas, the French bank, in the auction of £46 billion of assets controlled by Deutsche Bank in July 2005.

Aberdeen's shares rose 9.6 per cent, or 10p, to 115p, after the announcement.

"The terms of the deal appear to be highly favourable to Aberdeen... and achieve substantial efficiency savings with the added inducement of immediate (from closing) earnings enhancement", said Daniel Stewart, the broker.

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