US private equity firm JC Flowers said on Monday it was considering making an offer for Britain's Friends Provident, boosting the shares of the stricken insurer.
JC Flowers, which also said an entity that it advises had acquired a stake of around 2.7 percent in Friends, stated that it intended to approach Friends' board "with a view to developing a proposal that will deliver value for Friends Provident's shareholders".
Friends' shares jumped 5.6 percent on the news, its biggest one-day rise since July 2007, to stand at 161 pence by 1400 GMT, making it the biggest blue chip gainer across Europe. JC Flowers approached the Friends Provident board before Christmas calling for talks on an informal bid worth around 175 pence per share, a source familiar with the situation said.