Friends Prov's F&C sale may take many months

At the insurer’s annual shareholder meeting, executive chairman Adrian Montague told investors a resolution on Friends’ 52% stake in the asset manager may not be reached before Q3 or Q4. “The F&C board, working in close conjunction with us, is in discussions with a limited range of buyers. They are at an early stage,” he says. Last week it was reported Dutch financial services group Rabobank has emerged as a contender to buy Friends’ F&C share, which would trigger a bid for the whole company under stock market rules. As part of its strategic review released in January, Friends announc...