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Friends Provident and Resolution moved a step closer towards completing the planned merger between the two insurers today.

In separate statements the companies confirmed that they had published documentation for shareholders concerning the details of the proposed tie-up, with the investors from both groups due to vote on the plans at meetings on November 5th.

The planned merger between Friends Provident and Resolution is subsequently expected to be completed on November 29th.

However reports suggest that the publication of the merger documentation could prompt two other potential suitors to put bids on the table for Resolution, a move which would threaten the company's planned merger with Friends Provident.

Life insurer Pearl, Resolution's top investor, has indicated that it is unhappy with the proposed tie-up and is considering options that include making its own cash bid for the firm.

Meanwhile the UK's fifth-biggest insurer Standard Life is also mulling a cash and stock offer for Resolution.

Despite the prospect of further bids emerging, Resolution chief executive Mike Biggs stressed that today's publication of shareholder documents marked the "closing stages" of its planned merger with Friends Provident.

Friends Provident chief executive Philip Moore added: "We are looking forward to the successful completion of the merger with Resolution.

"All the work we have done on the merger over the last couple of months gives us every confidence that the combination of these two businesses is the right thing to do, because we expect the merger to create significant value opportunities for shareholders and customers from the combination of Friends Provident's product and service expertise, Resolution's cash flow and our broad, combined distribution capabilities."

Friends Provident also said today that it expects to report stronger life and pension sales for the third quarter.

In a trading update the insurer said total life and pensions sales in the nine months to September 30th was expected to exceed £5.4 billion on a present value of new business premiums (PVNBP) basis. The figure represents a rise of more than 16 per cent over the year.