Resolution in Prudential hint

6th May 2010 11:05

Insurance firm consolidator Resolution has hinted it may be in the running to buy the UK arm of Prudential.Chief executive John Tiner told reporters this morning its shareholders are ready to produce "significant further funding to finance an acquisition," adding that they were ready to put up three to five times the £600m raised it listed in 2008.Though he refused to give names of specific targets, Tiner predicted that mergers this year would prompt a major reshaping of the UK financial services sector.Speculation over the future of its UK business has been rife even since Prudential launched its $35.5bn bid for US insurer AIG's Asia operations.Resolution is widely reported to have held talks with the Pru earlier this year, but the discussions ended when Pru arranged a $21bn rights issue to fund the AIG deal. This AIG deal though has run into regulatory problems over the combined group's capital position and analysts say it may now be amenable to a disposal.In a trading update this morning, Resolution added that sales (measured on an annual premium equivalent basis) in the first quarter of 2010 were up 19% to £178m compared to £149m for the same quarter of 2009.The figure was slightly ahead of a £174m consensus number provided by the company. Overall total group life and pensions sales rose 7% to £117.5m, boosted by a 35% jump in international sales.