Friends Prov offloads Pantheon stake

Pantheon, which has gross assets of £4.3m, was sold to Kaberry on 19 March. Friends Provident says the IFA's focus on wealth management was not a good strategic fit for the insurer, which primarily operates in the life and pensions sector. The firm has been trying to offload Pantheon for years. In 2008, it announced it had dropped efforts to sell the business after failing to achieve a good enough price. "Despite a number of positive expressions of interest, Friends Provident believes it will not be possible in the short term to achieve a sale price that will realise suitable value...