Bramdean Alternatives, the $182m (£123m) alternative investment fund managed by Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Asset Management, has been approached about a possible takeover.

The offer by an unnamed bidder comes as shareholder discontent threatens to reach boiling point following falls in the fund’s investments in private equity and hedge funds and the shares’ wide discount to asset value. Some 9.5 per cent of Bramdean Alternatives was invested with funds run by Bernard Madoff, the disgraced financier.