Aviva pulls takeover bid for Pru

In a statement released a short while ago the life company has said: "Aviva provided the board of Prudential with a written merger proposal, the terms of which were set out in an announcement on 20 March 2006. "Aviva believes that the merger, on these terms, would have created significant value for both sets of shareholders. Aviva made clear that its proposal was dependent on the co-operation of Prudential. As this co-operation has not been forthcoming, Aviva has decided to withdraw its proposal. "In coming to its decision, the board of Aviva determined that it was not in the best interes...