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’Flowers pops up in UK mutual land
Compared to those high-flying days of yesteryear, über-deal maker Chris Flowers has been rather quiet – and we’d venture, not overly successful – as of late.
Among the more notable in a series of rather underwhelming deals have been his huge investment,
Resolution finally seals Friends deal
Resolution finally captured Friends Provident on Tuesday after the life assurer’s board recommended the latest £1.86bn offer from Clive Cowdery’s Guernsey-based acquisition vehicle. The deal was announced as Friends reported disappointing first-half results,
A friendly resolution
Phew.
It took an improved offer, but Clive Cowdery’s Resolution has done it. UK-listed insurer Friends Provident has accepted a takeover offer from the specialist Guernsey-based buyout group on Tuesday — although it pretty much hinted as much on Monday.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Resolution to buy Friends Provident for $3bn – statement.
- Friends Provident posts £131m underlying profit – statement, statement
- Collins Stewart H1 profit drops 36 per cent – statement.
Resolution on brink of Friends deal
UK insurance entrepreneur Clive Cowdery is poised to strike to take over Friends Provident, in a deal that values the UK life insurer at £1.87bn, two years after Cowdery tried to merge his first Resolution vehicle with the company.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Friends Provident confirms revised Resolution proposal – statement.
- Van der Moolen requests suspension of payments – statement.
- Corporate: Blacks, Valiant,
UK’s Cowdery closes in on Friends
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution is inching towards a takeover of Friends Provident after the two sides neared an agreement over the valuation of the life assurer over the weekend. Both sides are trying to reach agreement before the time Friends announces its interim results on Tuesday,
Friends rejects Cowdery’s offer
Friends Provident has attempted to kill off the chances of a takeover by Resolution, Clive Cowdery’s UK-listed acquisition vehicle, by saying its latest offer – worth £1.7bn – delivered on Sunday was still “wholly inadequate”.
Friends rejects Resolution’s sweetened offer
Friends Provident on Monday rebuffed a fresh takeover proposal from Clive Cowdery’s Resolution after a frosty meeting that left the two sides at odds over the structure of a merged group, the FT said. Mr Cowdery said his Guernsey-based company would not make an offer for Friends that compromised Resolution’s status as a separate vehicle designed to pursue various consolidation projects.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Resolution welcomes Friends Provident statement, to meet today — statement.
- UK house prices rise 0.6 per cent in July — Rightmove House Price Index.
- Sweden’s SEB bank Q2 operating profit falls to SEK 618m — Swedish Wire.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Resolution says Friends Provident rebuffed takeover proposal – statement.
- Emerald energy confirms third party approach – statement.
- Philips Q2 EBITA beats expectations – statement.
Resolution in takeover move for Friends
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution has launched its plan to restructure parts of the UK life and pensions industry with an all-share offer to take over Friends Provident, one of a handful of businesses likely to be targeted by the consolidation vehicle,
It’s like Christmas Eve
…and here’s the evidence – Monday’s most actives’ on the London Stock Exchange.
Across the London market (ex-Aim) just 950m shares have changed hands – that’s not even half an average day’s trading volume.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- Bank of Ireland sees impairment charges of €6bn in 3yrs to 2011 – statement.
- Friends Provident completes demerger of stake of in F&C Asset Management – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Deutsche Bank posts Q1 net revenue of €7.2bn — statement.
- Friends Provident sales down 40 per cent in Q1 — statement.
- St. James’s Place funds under management down 6 per cent to £15.3bn YTD — statement.
CDS update: Credit underperforms
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
Credit underperformed equity today in a mixed trading session. The Markit iTraxx Europe saw its rally curtailed as the index widened by 8bp to 189bp.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Cattles says it will need to restate the group’s financial statements for 2006-2007, is in breach of covenants – statement
- HSBC HK selloff caused by “technical factors”;
SELL: Insurers
This is a reader appeal.
FT Alphaville has been unable to locate the upside to investing in the insurance industry. Surely its somewhere… after all, the insurance sector has fared relatively well of late.
Friends to demerge F&C holding
Trevor Matthews, chief executive of UK life assurer Friends Provident, said there were no “substantial” talks on selling Friends’ majority holding in asset manager F&C and Friends would press ahead with demerging the stake.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Friends Provident reports “strong” capital position, bank funding through to 2011 – statement
- Corporate results: Adnams, Charter International, Hornby, Phoenix IT,
Snap news
The latest on Friday,
- Panasonic set to take over Sanyo. Bloomberg
- Munich Re reveals Q3 slump. Bloomberg
- Evelyn Bourke appointed CFO at Friends Provident
- Figures/trading statements from Rentokil,
Snap news
The latest on Friday,
- F&C reports slight decrease in assets under management by 3% – statement
- Friends Provident reports £1bn capital surplus; sees 14% fall in sales – statement
- Southern Cross refinances debt – statement
- BT ousts global services CEO on profits warning – statement,
Cowdery eyes Friends as break-up target
Clive Cowdery, the UK insurance entrepreneur, is studying Friends Provident as a break-up target, among other potential investment opportunities, as concern mounts that Friends’ own plans to dismantle the embattled life assurer have run adrift.
Snap news
The latest on Monday,
- BAA announces “significant progress” on debt refinancing; exchanges existing bonds – statement
- Friends Provident backs out of Pantheon Financial sale – statement
- Danway
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
Man Group buys tranche of Nephila
Man Group, the world’s biggest listed hedge fund manager, is paying $50m to buy 25% of Nephila Capital, a Bermuda-based hedge fund specialising in catastrophe insurance and weather derivatives.
Friends’ Montague defends bid rejection
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of Friends Provident, on Tuesday defended the life assurer’s handling of a £3.5bn proposed offer from JC Flowers, which the US buy-out group withdrew two weeks ago blaming Friends’ refusal to hold talks.
Snap news
The latest on Tuesday,
- HBOS takes £1bn Q1 writedown in trading book, £1.8bn writedown in banking book. £4bn rights issue confirmed, 2 shares offered for every 5 existing shares at 275 pence a 45% discount to current market price.