Abbey set to bid for mutuals

Heading into the week of 3 June, Abbey National was lining up to launch bids for several mutual life assurance firms as part of its plan to increase in size. Having already purchased Scottish Mutual at that stage, Abbey had been in negotiations with Scottish Life and was also believed to be in talks with Scottish Amicable and its former tied partner Friends Provident. In 1995, the life assurance arm of Abbey contributed around 10% of total profits of the group. This was split almost equally between Abbey National Life and Scottish Mutual. In other Scottish Mutual news, the company app...