In a recent move that indicates the commencement of an aggressive attempt by the restructuring firm Resolution Ltd to buy three or four life insurers over a period of a year and a half, the company Monday confirmed that is deliberating on the acquisition of the UK insurer, Friends Provident PLC.

Resolution Limited is a company that came into existence with an express authorization for consolidation and restructuring in the financial services industry. On Monday, it said that it is working on an offer for the entire issued - and also to be issued - share capital of Friends Provident; and that it has already approached the Friends' board with its offer.

About the proposal under consideration, Resolution said that the offer for Friends Provident's purchase is essentially a share-exchange offer, but with a partial cash element.

In a statement disclosing its plans, Resolution said that it "confirms that it is considering a possible offer for the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Friends Provident in connection with this consolidation strategy and has approached the Friends Provident board in this regard."

The statement further said that the proposal put forth by Resolution was "not acceptable" to the Friends Provident board. To towards that end, the company also said that Friends Provident had provided it with constructive feedback, and is supposedly "considering its response."