Cowdery is set to bid for debt-laden zombie Pearl
INSURANCE tycoon Clive Cowdery is understood to be looking at making a bid for Pearl, the heavily indebted closed life or “zombie” funds group.
Control of Pearl — which is led by pizza-to-pubs entrepreneur Hugh Osmond — is set to fall into the hands of its 17 lending banks, led by Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds.
Cowdery is considering making an offer for Pearl when the banks have taken it over.
Pearl is struggling to cope with its £3 billion-plus debt mountain and has offered the banks a 10 per cent stake in exchange for them forgiving a substantial portion of its borrowings.
However, it is understood the banks have rejected the debt-for-equity swap and want to take control of Pearl instead.
This would allow them to recover more of their money and avoid the need to take fresh, substantial write-downs in their loan portfolios.
A spokesman for Pearl said talks with its banks were proceeding on track.
If Cowdery goes ahead with a move for Pearl, it would see him reunited with the Resolution business he sold to the firm for £5 billion in November 2007.
Scottish Widows, Clerical Medical and Friends Provident are also believed to be on Cowdery’s shopping list.
To add to Osmond’s woes, Pearl’s bondholders have hired solicitors Bingham McCutcheon to sue the firm for missing a £33 million interest payment.
