today's figures could not be described as exciting, yet the shares are now +20 at 650 after a low of 615 ..... back in april, aviva made an approach but terms could not be agreed ..... under SE rules, that meant no new approach could be made for 6 months (i assume that only applied to aviva) ...... for all that, if PRU's sp continues to thrive, why question?

.

Just closed @548 +46

sp teased through 200 dma but failed ...... quite possibly time to short

Yes - I'm glad to be flat!

Pru saves Asia deal with 11th-hour pact

PRUDENTIAL saved its blockbuster takeover of an Asian rival yesterday after stitching together a last-minute deal with the Financial Services Authority.

Details of the arrangement are expected to be announced tomorrow. It is understood that Prudential has agreed to provide a 1 billion backstop fund to meet the FSAs concern about the adequacy of its capital reserves.

Prudential PLC Revised AIA Offer Rejected By AIG
By Digby Larner
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

U.K. insurer Prudential PLC's (PRU.LN) attempt to seal the biggest-ever insurance takeover suffered a major setback Tuesday after it failed to lower the cost of its $35.5 billion agreement to buy American International Group Inc.'s (AIG) largest Asian life-insurance unit.

Prudential said it is considering its position after AIG rejected a proposal to slash the value of the deal to $30.375 billion.

AIG said in a separate statement that, "after careful consideration, the company will adhere to the original terms of its previously announced agreement with Prudential PLC for Prudential to acquire AIG's wholly owned pan-Asian life insurance subsidiary AIA Group Limited. The company will not consider revisions to those terms."

The planned tie-up has been dogged by worries from shareholders about the cost and the execution risk.

Some of Prudential's top shareholders, including Blackrock Inc. (BLK), Legal & General (LGEN.LN) and Fidelity, are clamoring for a new price as low as $30 billion, or about 15.5% less than the original price, the Wall Street Journal said Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

AIG and the U.S. government, which owns a nearly 80% stake in the insurer, intend on using much of the proceeds to repay U.S. taxpayers for part of the $132 billion bailout AIG received during the financial crisis.

Prudential shareholders are due to vote on the AIG deal June 7. Some shareholders have also criticized the $21 billion of cash they would need to put up to help pay for the acquisition of AIA Group Ltd.

Last week, Prudential reiterated that the AIG deal was in the best interest of shareholders amid continued reports of growing shareholder discontent.

"There is no change to our position. As we have said, we believe this opportunity will deliver substantial long-term value for our shareholders," a spokesman said.

The Prudential said Tuesday that the proposed new deal comprises $23 billion cash and 2.16 billion newly issued shares of Prudential; $2 billion in aggregate principal amount of perpetual tier one notes to be issued by Prudential.

Prudential shares closed Friday at 541.5 pence valuing the company at GBP13.75 billion.

PRUDENTIAL PLC
PROPOSED TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT TO COMBINE WITH AIA GROUP LIMITED


Further to its announcement yesterday, Prudential plc ("Prudential") announces that it is in negotiations with American International Group, Inc. ("AIG") for the termination of the agreement (the "SPA") for the combination of Prudential with AIA Group Limited ("AIA").

If, as expected, the agreement with AIG is terminated, the Board of Prudential will not put any resolutions to the court and shareholder meetings convened for 7 June 2010 and it will not be proceeding with the rights issue or other financing relating to the Transaction. The reconvened Annual General Meeting will go ahead as planned on 7 June 2010.

Prudential plc - Termination of Agreement


TIDMPRU

RNS Number : 9968M
Prudential PLC
03 June 2010

?
For immediate release

3 June 2010

PRUDENTIAL PLC
TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT TO COMBINE WITH AIA GROUP LIMITED

Further to its announcement yesterday, Prudential plc ("Prudential") confirms
that its agreement with American International Group, Inc. ("AIG") for the
combination of Prudential with AIA Group Limited (the "SPA") has been
terminated.

Accordingly, the Board of Prudential will not put any resolutions to the court
and shareholder meetings convened for 7 June 2010 and it will not be proceeding
with the rights issue or other financing relating to the Transaction. The
reconvened Annual General Meeting will go ahead as planned on 7 June 2010.

Prudential will pay AIG a termination fee of GBP152.569 million (including VAT,
if any). Prudential and AIG have agreed to release and waive any claims each
may have against the other.


ENDS

Trading Update

PRUDENTIAL PLC TRADING UPDATE



Group-wide sales of 1,355 million for the first five months of 2010 up 27 per cent

Strong performance in Asia, with sales up 33 per cent to 579 million in the first five months of 2010

Record retail sales in the US. Outperformance continues with new business sales of 454 million, up 41 per cent

Prudential UK up 4 per cent at 322 million

Interim Management Statement.

PRUDENTIAL PLC THIRD QUARTER 2010 INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT


CONTINUED STRONG MOMENTUM WITH 9 MONTH NEW BUSINESS SALES OF 2,464 MILLION


GROUP-WIDE SALES OF 2,464 MILLION UP 24 PER CENT. NEW BUSINESS PROFIT UP 21 PER CENT


ROBUST GROWTH IN ASIA CONTINUES WITH YEAR TO DATE SALES UP 32 PER CENT AND YEAR TO DATE NEW BUSINESS PROFIT UP 34 PER CENT. HIGHEST THIRD QUARTER SALES FOR OUR ASIAN BUSINESS, UP 25 PER CENT


SUSTAINED SALES MOMENTUM IN US. YEAR TO DATE SALES UP 33 PER CENT AT ATTRACTIVE MARGINS


UK FOCUS ON VALUE OVER VOLUME CONTINUES TO DELIVER HIGHER NEW BUSINESS PROFIT, UP 14 PER CENT


ASSET MANAGEMENT NET INFLOWS OF 6.2 BILLION, DRIVEN BY VERY HEALTHY M&G RETAIL NET INFLOWS OF 5.1 BILLION


CAPITAL POSITION REMAINS STRONG - IGD SURPLUS ESTIMATED AT 3.4 BILLION 1

Looks like quite a few of the big insurers are reporting interim results this coming week (AV., PRU etc). Results are expected to be pretty good according to press reports, so might be a good opportunity for a trading bounce. Also increased divi from the PRU expected (up 20% ?).

Yes a busy week with updates from Aviva, L&G, Old Mut and RSA. RSA and Aviva on Thursday.

Blackrock < 5%

PRUDENTIAL PLC STATEMENT

Prudential notes recent press speculation in relation to the Group.

Prudential regularly reviews its range of options to maximise the strategic flexibility of the Group. This includes consideration of optimising the Group's domicile, including as a possible response to an adverse outcome on Solvency II.

There continues to be uncertainty in relation to the implementation of Solvency II and implications for the Group's businesses. Clarity on this issue is not expected in the near term.

FT:
Prudential, one of the UK’s oldest insurers, is considering plans to uproot its headquarters from London to Hong Kong amid concerns about the impact of new European capital adequacy regulations.
People familiar with the situation say a possible shift out of London is being weighed up by the group, which has £349.5bn of assets under management.

Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Prudential, has recently raised concerns about the “unintended consequences” of Solvency II regulations. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Mr Thiam warned that if “certain versions” of Solvency II insurance rules, due to come into force in 2013, were implemented, investing in corporate bonds, infrastructure and some bank assets would be “very difficult”.

Morgan Stanley note:
What’s driving this? Solvency 2 has an extra-territorial aspect in that it applies to an EU-domiciled insurers’ global operations unless overseas units are deemed to operate in “equivalent” regimes. If the regime is not deemed to be technically “equivalent” to Solvency 2, then the insurer will potentially be required to hold EU levels of capital for that foreign unit. This is especially pertinent for the US – where we believe Solvency 2 capital requirements are likely to be higher than local ones (especially for fixed annuities) and EU players have significant operations. Furthermore, the US regime is not likely to meet equivalence requirements in the short to medium term.
What’s likely to happen? Our base case remains that the US will be “deemed” equivalent for Solvency 2 – at least for an initial time period. Given the importance of the US life market to EU insurers, we doubt that the European Commission will ultimately want to disadvantage domestic insurers.
Would it make sense for Pru to move its HQ to Hong Kong? A change of domicile would not impact the UK business – which would come under the scope of Solvency 2 in any event, however it would mean that the US business would not come under the scope of S2.
In our view, merely moving Pru’s HQ to Hong Kong would not impact the rating of the stock. We believe in order to materially narrow the rating gap of its Asia business with AIA, a change in corporate structure would be required – not just a change in legal domicile. We believe “domestic” Asia investors have limited appetite for the US and UK operations of the Pru.

Nomura has reiterated its reduce rating and 700p target price for insurance giant Prudential ahead of the group's full-year results next Tuesday.

Nomura believes that Pru's US business is likely to "plateau" due to the companies intention to moderate its US growth ("since it was becoming too large a part of the group") and its demanding comparatives over the past three years.

Full Year Results.

..Prudential to name Paul Manduca as new chairman

By James Quinn | Telegraph – 17 minutes ago
.

......
Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) is to name Paul Manduca as its new chairman following a five-month search to replace the departing incumbent, Harvey McGrath.

Mr Manduca, the former chief executive of Rothschild Asset Management, has been chosen by the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) insurer’s board after a lengthy search of internal and external candidates.

It is understood that in recent days the board has passed his name to the Financial Services Authority, which is in the process of vetting his credentials and past experience.

As the potential chairman of the high-profile and complex insurer, not to mention the head of one of the UK’s largest fund managers in Prudential’s M&G division, the regulator must be certain that Mr Manduca has the appropriate skills to lead the board before sanctioning the appointment.

Subject to the FSA’s approval, Mr Manduca will take over from Mr McGrath at some point over the summer, allowing for what is expected to be a small handover period. It is expected an announcement on Mr Manduca’s appointment, subject to regulatory clearance, could be made as early as this week.

At the same time, it is thought Mr Manduca will step down as chairman of Aon UK, the British arm of the global insurance broker.

Mr Manduca’s pending appointment may be seen as controversial by some, given that he, as Prudential’s senior independent director, has been stewarding the search process.

Prudential sources indicated that he initially resisted overtures from other board members for him to throw his hat into the ring, despite his considerable fund management and public company experience.

In recent weeks, it was reported that Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman of Invensys (LSE: ISYS.L - news) , and Glen Moreno, chairman of Pearson (EUREX: PSOF.EX - news) , were the two leading front-runners for the Prudential post, but it emerged last week that neither man was in the running. One source said that the external search had been over for more than a week.

Among the internal candidates, according to one board member spoken to who asked to remain anonymous, Mr Manduca was always thought to be the leading contender, despite his initial resistance.

The only other board member who was seen as a possible candidate was Sir Howard Davies, the former chairman of the FSA. One source indicated the dynamic between Sir Howard and the Prudential’s chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, was not ideal, with suggestions Sir Howard would have wanted to take on more of an executive chairman role.

Both Mr Manduca and Sir Howard joined Prudential in October 2010, bolstering its board following the backlash which came after its botched $35.5bn (£22.4bn) bid for Asian insurer AIA. Mr McGrath took the rap for the collapse of the AIA deal, with more than 26pc of shareholders choosing to either vote against or abstain in the vote for his re-election at the 2011 annual meeting. Mr McGrath announced his decision to stand down in December 2011.

Mr Manduca’s in-tray will include reconnecting with investors after 30.3pc of shareholders last week voted against the group’s pay report and working with Mr Thiam on the difficult issue of where Prudential moves regulatory domicile outside the UK.

Spokesmen for both Prudential and the FSA declined to comment

Half Year 2012 - Business Review

ASIA CONTINUES TO DRIVE PROFITABLE GROWTH, WITH STRONG CASH REMITTANCES FROM ALL businesses

IFRS1:

· Operating profit of £1,162 million, up 13 per cent
· Asia life insurance business operating profit2 of £409 million, up 26 per cent
· Total profit before tax3 of £1,259 million, up 13 per cent
· Shareholders' funds of £9.3 billion, up 8 per cent4

New Business:

· EEV new business profit of £1,141 million, up 7 per cent
· Asia EEV new business profit of £547 million, up 18 per cent

Embedded Value:

· Operating profit of £2,109 million, down 2 per cent, reflecting low-interest rate environment
· Asia life insurance business operating profit2 of £872 million, up 13 per cent
· Shareholders' funds of £20.6 billion, up 5 per cent4, equivalent to 806 pence per share

Capital & Dividend:

· Strong underlying free surplus generation of £1.4 billion (before investment in new business), unchanged from last year
· Net remittances from business operations up 5 per cent to £726 million
· Asia net cash remittance of £126 million, up 20 per cent
· Insurance Groups Directive (IGD) capital surplus estimated at £4.2 billion; solvency requirements covered 2.7 times
· 2012 half year dividend increased by 5.7 per cent to 8.4 pence per share