Pearl to raise £500m and list on stock exchange

Led by Hugh Osmond, Pearl is already in talks with its banking consortium about restructuring its more than £2bn debt, mostly incurred by its£4.98bn purchase of Resolution. Pearl says the capital raising and floatation is also needed after recognising the credit crunch has changed its operational business model. "We are in a market full of opportunities, but one in which the debt-funded acquisition model that served Pearl and others so well in the past is simply no longer appropriate," it says. "We are therefore pursuing a capital restructuring, fund raising and thereafter a listing o...