Auction expected for Equitable Life sale

Equitable Life will officially go on sale in late August and it hopes to generate an auction between potential buyers. Equitable is preparing a memorandum for sale, which will be ready in the week beginning 21 August. Until then, no formal offer can be made by potential bidders but Nigel Webb, head of public relations at Equitable Life, said there has already been a lot of interest in acquiring the mutual. Roman Cizdyn, an insurance analyst at Merrill Lynch, said the company will have to demutualise first in order to allow transfer of ownership to the eventual buyer. He added: "The on...