Buyout firm JC Flowers is planning to use equity to finance most of its £3.49bn (€4.4bn) bid for UK life insurer Friends Provident as the rising cost of debt makes such funding arrangements more appealing.

Flowers released a regulatory statement today detailing its proposed offer for the publicly listed group, saying it envisaged the biggest portion of the value to be funded with equity from its own funds and from co-investors it advises.