A FRESH bid from RSA for the general insurance business of rival Aviva would only be considered if the owner of Norwich Union was to open its books for examination, a source yesterday said.
Three banks - BNP Paribas, HSBC and Deutsche Bank - have been lined up by RSA to underwrite a rights issue to fund the takeover bid. But Aviva last week said the business was not up for sale. An Aviva spokeswoman and a spokesman for RSA declined to comment.