Resolution will not bid for UK insurer
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution is not interested in a bid for the insurer Friends Provident, a company spokesman said yesterday.
Shares in Friends Provident rose yesterday on reports that it was on a “wish list” of companies in Resolution’s sights. But a Resolution spokesman said today there was no truth in the rumours.
He said: “There isn’t a wish list of companies that we are targeting and no company is being singled out.”
Last year, Cowdery agreed to merge the closed-life fund consolidator Resolution with Friends Provident, before finally selling it to Pearl Group after a protracted bidding war.
Cowdery’s new project, also called Resolution, is due to announce later this month its funding arrangements and strategy for the purchase and consolidation of UK financial services companies.
Cowdery is thought to be preparing to tap City banks for more than £2bn, once Resolution makes its acquisition targets known.
Meanwhile, Friends Provident is looking to sell its Luxembourg based wealth management unit Lombard and British fund manager F&C, as part of a restructuring effort sparked by the failed tie-up with Resolution.
CEO Trevor Matthews has not found a buyer yet, and said yesterday that the insurer did not need to sell and would only do so at the right price.
The insurer is undergoing a major overhaul after it decided to focus on key areas including protection, segments of group pensions and annuities for existing pensions customers.
Any break-up would likely involve the sale of the two units but volatile market conditions mean that Friends has not yet heard a price it likes.