Britannia/Standard merger mooted

LONDON - The Charles Taylor Group and Tindall Riley revealed yesterday that heads of agreement have been reached to work towards a possible merger of protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs, Britannia and the Standard Club. The two have also entered into a conditional memorandum of understanding regarding the acquisition by Charles Taylor of Tindall Riley's business which encompasses the management of three mutuals; the Britannia; Lloyd's broker mutual, Griffin; and the Wren Insurance Association, a mutual of professional architects' practices. However, the two sides yesterday stressed any such deal would be dependant both on agreement being reached for the merger of the P&I clubs and on the agreement of all four boards of the mutuals which they manage. A feasibility study is being carried out on the merger of the P&I clubs and the groups expect an initial response in July.