Royal London to join any Pearl/Resolution bid

Late yesterday Resolution knocked back Pearl’s 660p per share offer, but Royal London is waiting in the wings if a new bid is lodged. Royal London says it has made a “binding agreement with Pearl”, giving the group the right to acquire certain Resolution businesses and assets. It says the assets they are after include Scottish Provident UK and International, as well as Life Division North. Also, Royal London says it has agreed to provide £0.3bn debt funding for any Pearl offer. “There can be no certainty that Royal London will acquire these assets in Resolution given that the transactio...