Resolution and Friends Provident, two of Britain's biggest life insurers, are heading for a merger worth 8.3 billion pounds (12.3 billion euros, 17.07 billion dollars), a newspaper said Sunday.
The Sunday Times reported that details of the advanced merger negotiations, which have been underway for several months, will be announced on Monday and a deal will be disclosed in about two weeks.
Under the proposed nil-premium merger deal, Resolution chief executive Mike Biggs would lead the combined group, according to the newspaper, which did not name its sources.
Philip Moore, his counterpart at Friends Provident, would serve as Biggs's deputy but with the expectation he would eventually assume the top job. The announcement on Monday could trigger competing offers as investment firm JC Flowers has previously targeted Friends Provident, number four in the British insurance sector, the newspaper said.
Axa of France and Standard Life of Britain have also studied Friends and could make offers, the newspaper said. Established in 2003, Resolution last year joined the FTSE-100 of leading shares on the London Stock Exchange when it bought the closed life funds of Abbey National, subsidiary of Spanish banking group SCH, for 3.6 billion pounds. The deal brought its share of British life insurance market to around 18 percent.
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