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’JC Flowers in ultimatum to Friends
JC Flowers was on Monday preparing to walk away from its siege of Friends Provident after delivering an ultimatum to the troubled life assurer to enter into talks over its £3.5bn proposed offer. The US buy-out group,
JC Flowers could abandon Friends
JC Flowers could abandon its pursuit of Friends Provident before an end-April deadline to make an offer or walk away, if the embattled life assurer refuses to enter talks with the US buy-out group. JC Flowers has proposed a £3.5bn cash offer for Friends and has called for negotiations with its board.
JC Flowers piles pressure on Friends
JC Flowers will step up pressure on Friends Provident by appealing to its shareholders after again requesting talks with the embattled life assurer, and declaring it had funding in place for a £3.5bn cash bid.
Flowers seeks Code carve-out for Friends bid
After being swiftly dispatched by its quarry last week, JC Flowers is back.
On Monday, Flowers asked for “direct engagement” with Friends Provident and access to certain “non-public information” to carry out due diligence. Pressure has been growing on Friends to get to the negotiating table after the insurer spurned a £3.5bn,
Weekend catch-up: From Flowers to Bear
Flowers works on sweetened Friends big
US buyout firm JC Flowers is working on a sweetened bid worth around £3.5bn ($7bn) for UK insurer Friends Provident, worth about 155p-160p a share, after Friends said March 31 it had spurned an indicative proposal worth 150p a share,
Widows backs Friends’ over Flowers
Friends Provident, the embattled UK life assurer, has secured the support of Scottish Widows, its biggest shareholder, in rebuffing a £3.5bn takeover approach from JC Flowers. The support of Widows, which holds 6.5-7% of Friends,
Shareholders urge Friends to talk
Friends Provident is coming under increasing pressure from shareholders to talk to JC Flowers after the embattled UK life assurer rejected its £3.5bn takeover approach and refused to negotiate with the US buy-out group.
No Friends for Flowers, as yet
It’s back to an increasingly tired-looking drawing board for the ceaselessly energetic Chris Flowers, as UK insurer Friends Provident said on Monday it had rejected a £3.5bn cash takeover proposal from his buyout firm JC Flowers because it “significantly undervalues”
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
US Treasury to launch regulatory shake-up
The US Treasury department is planning to unveil on Monday a series of recommendations that would radically reshape the regulation of the US financial services industry,
Flowers to revise Friends offer
JC Flowers is working on a fresh approach to Friends Provident, as the embattled UK life assurer moves closer to calling on regulators to force the US buy-out group to clarify its intentions. JC Flowers is working on a new letter to Friends after its chairman,
Shinsei – and other Japanese banks – sell the farm
Selling the farm seems to be a new trend among Japanese banks, while buying Tokyo bank property is becoming the vogue among US investment banks - at least if Morgan Stanley has anything to do with it.
Flowers and Friends seek talks
JC Flowers is seeking a meeting with Friends Provident, after the embattled life assurer demanded to know whether the US buy-out firm was going to make a takeover bid. The demand came as Friends, which has recruited Trevor Matthews from Standard Life to be its chief executive,
No clarity as yet for Friends
It didn’t feature, formally, in Friends Provident’s messy year-end figures, but the embattled British insurer really would like buyout group JC Flowers to come clean on whether or not it intends to launch a bid.
Express: JC Flowers moves on Friends
Private equity group JC Flowers is gearing up to launch a £3.5bn offer for British life insurer Friends Provident which could come as early as this week, reports Reuters, citing the Sunday Express. The US buy-out group is said to be waiting for Friends to unveiled its annual results on Tuesday before showing its hand.
Morgan Stanley shortlists CICC bids
Morgan Stanley has short-listed three bidders in the sale of its 34.3% stake in a top Chinese investment bank, China International Capital Corp, but is balking at their latest offers, reports the WSJ. The bidders,
Singapore to back TPG’s distressed financials fund
A Singapore SWF, the Government Investment Corp, is expected to invest up to $3bn in a $6bn fund that TPG, the private equity firm, is raising to invest in troubled financial firms. China’s foreign exchange management arm may also invest alongside some of TPG’s more traditional investors,
CIC nears fund deal with JC Flowers
China Investment Corporation, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, is close to an agreement with JC Flowers, the US buyout group, to put about $4bn into a new fund to invest in ailing financial institutions.
Kaupthing abandons €3bn NIBC deal
Kaupthing, Iceland’s largest bank, has scrapped a planned €3bn ($4.4bn) acquisition of NIBC, a Dutch investment bank, as a result of the credit market turmoil. The move is a clear sign that credit market woes are undermining crossborder M&A activity,
Sallie Mae gains $31bn financing
The six-month battle over the fate of the Sallie Mae buy-out ended Monday when the troubled US student lender announced it had secured a $31bn financing package and settled its legal dispute with a consortium led by JC Flowers,
Weekend catch-up: Qataris & Credit Suisse, Rock
Qatari’s poised to take $3bn stake in Credit Suisse
Powerful funds backed by the Qatari government are considering assembling a significant stake in Credit Suisse, one of Europe’s largest banks, reported The Sunday Telegraph.
UK confirms £30bn bond support for Rock
UK taxpayers are set to support stricken mortgage-lender Northern Rock for at least the next three years, under a government-sponsored financing plan likely to raise public sector net debt by close to £100bn.
Swiss Re eyes Friends Provident
Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurance group, looked set Monday night to muscle in on US buy-out group JC Flowers’ attempt to pursue a possible bid for troubled life insurance group Friends Provident,
JC Flowers considers £4bn bid for Friends
JC Flowers, the US buy-out group run by ex-Goldman Sachs banker Christopher Flowers, is considering a £4bn bid for Friends Provident after amassing a stake of almost 2% in the troubled life assurer, say people close to the situation.
Flowers rejects Sallie Mae overtures
A consortium led by JC Flowers, the US private equity group, has rejected an attempt by Sallie Mae to renegotiate its collapsed $26bn buy-out deal, sending the student lender’s shares sharply lower and reducing prospects that their legal dispute will be settled.
Flowers quits race for Northern Rock
JC Flowers, the private equity group has walked away from the bid auction for Northern Rock, the stricken bank. The US group, which submitted a revised proposal last week, is understood to have sent letters
Olivant puts its marker on Rock
Olivant, the buyout group run by Luqman Arnold, former CEO of Abbey National, is expected to lodge its bid proposal on Thursday or Friday for the stricken UK bank Northern Rock. Olivant was on Wednesday night finalizing details with Lazard,
Rock suitor Flowers also eyes Irish Nationwide
US private equity firm JC Flowers, which is in the running for Northern Rock, may also mount an offensive on Ireland with a potential €1bn (£723m) bid for one of the country’s biggest building societies,
JC Flowers revisits Northern Rock bid
JC Flowers, the private equity group, on Tuesday attempted to get back into the auction process for Northern Rock as it met the embattled bank’s board. The US company is competing against a few rival bids,
Treasury draws up plan for Rock depositors
Treasury and Bank of England officials are drawing up contingency plans to pay Northern Rock’s depositors their money if the stricken lender has to be put into administration. The plan would see the central bank buying Northern Rock’s deposits and swiftly paying the balances back to customers.
Bidding war seen for Northern Rock
Alistair Darling, UK chancellor, is hoping Northern Rock’s future can be decided within weeks, as his officials encourage the troubled bank to look beyond Virgin, its preferred bidder, at rival offers.