Friends in talks with bidders over F&C stake
Friends Provident, the embattled life assurer, said it was in talks with a “limited range of buyers” on the sale of its 52% stake in F&C Asset Management, the separately listed fund manager, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of Friends, answering questions from shareholders at the assurer’s annual meeting, said the discussions with potential buyers of the F&C stake were “at an early stage, and I don’t think it would be right to hold out the prospect of a sale until the third or fourth quarter”.
Sir Adrian said he planned to update shareholders on the sale of Lombard, Friends’ European wealth management business, at its interim results in August, while he hoped to have a deal on Pantheon, an intermediary, “in a few weeks’ time”.
Swiss Life has been among those eyeing Lombard, put up for sale with a price tag of £700m (€881m), along with several private equity buyers, sources said.
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