CVC in lead to buy Lombard

CVC Capital Partners is in the “leading position” in talks to buy high-end insurer Lombard, a unit of the UK’s Friends Provident, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

US. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has also been named as a suitor for Lombard, but Swiss Life, formerly seen as a potential front-runner and the only trade buyer, said last week it was no longer considering making a bid.