Friends Provident suitor sets bid deadline

Private equity firm JC Flowers today threatened to walk away from its £3.5bn (€4.3bn) takeover approach for Friends Provident unless the board of the life and pensions firm opens talks by the end of the week.

Friends had been holding out for an improvement on its suitor’s 150p a share approach, but Flowers’ ultimatum came with a refusal to lift its potential offer.