Australians drop move for Equitable

British pensions group Equitable Life said today it had refused to give Australian insurer AMP exclusive negotiating rights in…

British pensions group Equitable Life said today it had refused to give Australian insurer AMP exclusive negotiating rights in its attempt to sell Equitable's operations.

Equitable was forced to consider a sale after failure in a British court case left it with huge liabilities. It said sale talks continued. A spokesman declined to say whether AMP had pulled out altogether but industry sources said it had.

Reuters