Reuters- F&C Asset Management has "excellent prospects as a standalone company", its chief executive said on Thursday, but it was reviewing all options after Friends Provident said it aimed to sell its majority stake.
Alain Grisay told reporters on a conference call that F&C had appointed adviser Lazard and Lexicon Partners to help the UK fund manager decide on its future, including a sale or remaining independent through a management buyout of Friends’ 52 percent stake.
"It is early days yet. We will look at every opportunity," he said. The fund manager said it had so far received no bid approaches.
Friends Providen "will not be rushed into a disorderly process which damages the stability of our business", said Grisay, after the troubled UK insurer said on Thursday it would sell its stake in F&C and high-end unit Lombard as part of a radical overhaul of its business.
