Sir Adrian Montague and Mike Biggs, the chairmen of Friends Provident and Resolution, will sit down together on Monday to see if they can agree a way of combining the two companies following the unveiling of competing takeover proposals last week.

Friends Provident, a FTSE 100 listed life assurer, was initially targeted by Resolution, an acquisition vehicle set up by Clive Cowdery with the aim of consolidating the sector.