JC Flowers, the US private equity group, tried to convince Friends Provident to open its books yesterday by providing financing details for its £3.5bn bid but its efforts fell short after Friends refused to budge, The Times reports.
Flowers, which owns 2.7% of Friends and has been courting the insurer since November, said in a statement that it had received letters from Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley and that the banks were “highly confident” of their ability to provide financing for the deal. Flowers made the appeal to Friends and its shareholders as it reiterated its 150p-a-share offer. It said: “JC Flowers is keen to begin the due diligence process and would welcome the opportunity to enter into discussions with Friends Provident as soon as possible.” ALISTAIR DARLING YESTERDAY called for a...
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