Slaughter and May on Cowdery’s Resolution IPO

Slaughter and May on Cowdery’s Resolution IPO" />Veteran entrepreneur Clive Cowdery has turned to longstanding adviser Slaughter and May for advice on the IPO of his latest venture, financial services business Resolution.

Slaughters corporate partners Jeff Twentyman, Kathy Hughes and Robin Ogle are leading the team acting on the flotation.

Twentyman worked on the establishment of Cowdery’s original Resolution business, a life fund consolidator, in 2005.

The life business was sold to rival Pearl Group earlier this year, with Cowdery keeping the rights to the Resolution name as part of the deal.

Herbert Smith won the mandate to advise Resolution on the Pearl deal after Slaughters was conflicted out. The hotly-contested transaction, which started out as a merger between Friends Provident and Resolution and saw Standard Life also attempt to tie up with Resolution, handed mandates to a number of firms.

Linklaters acted for Friends Provident while Standard Life called on Clifford Chance.

Although Herbert Smith has not won the main mandate on the Resolution IPO, the firm is involved with the deal. Partners Malcolm Lombers, James Palmer and Scott Cochrane are leading the team acting for financial advisers Citigroup and Lazard.

Cowdery plans to raise £1bn via the London listing, which is slated for November, with the money being used to acquire financial services businesses.

Earlier this year Resolution, under advice from Lovells, attempted to buy a stake in Herbert Smith client Bradford & Bingley.

Cowdery has signed up John Tiner, former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, to head his new business.

Slaughters and Herbert Smith declined to comment on the IPO.