The independent expert commissioned to review the $2.2 billion sale of Perpetual’s wealth management and corporate trust business to KKR has all but killed the proposal, saying it cannot recommend in favour of the deal.

While the 138-year-old investment house and the New York-headquartered buyout giant said they were “continuing to engage constructively in relation to the transaction”, corporate advisory firm Grant Samuel told the Perpetual board on Tuesday that it did not think the sale was in the best interest of shareholders.