Martin Gilbert, the acquisitive founder of Aberdeen Asset Management, has returned to the dealmaking fray and scooped up Edinburgh-based boutique Saracen Fund Managers through his new venture. AssetCo, the Aim-listed company of which Gilbert became chair in April, said on Friday it had agreed to buy Saracen for £2.75m. “We need to acquire a regulated entity,” said Gilbert, who established Aberdeen four decades ago and helped orchestrate the £11bn all-share merger between Standard Life Investments and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017.