It has been revealed that investors holding warrants in a life insurance firm have agreed to switch them for shares in the company.

The group, which specialises in buying up closed life funds, said more than 99% of warrants that could be exchanged have been traded for shares.

Overall, 21.8 million public warrants have been submitted, leading to just under 4 million new shares in the company being issued.

Chief executive Jonathan Moss said: "This is an important step for Pearl in reducing the quantity of outstanding dilutive instruments and in preparing the group for a premium listing in London, which we hope to achieve in 2010.

"We are delighted that the response from warrant-holders to the exchange invitation was so strong, at over 99% of the maximum that we could have accepted."

One of the requirements for a premium listing is that some policies issued by the company must not exceed 20% of the issued equity share capital of the group.

In an attempt to meet the requirements for their premium listings, the insurer said it will keep its options open.