US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) will sell its remaining stake in Asian insurer AIA, in a deal that could raise up to $6.5 billion.
The sale will mark AIG’s total exit from AIA after the US insurer, which was bailed out by Washington during the financial crisis, sold two-thirds of the unit in a Hong Kong listing in 2010 to help repay the financial aid.
The Hong Kong initial public offering in 2010 raised US$20.5 billion, making it one of the world’s biggest.
AIG, which holds 13.69 per cent in AIA, started selling 1.65 billion shares at a price range of HK$29.65-HK$30.65 ($3.82-$3.95), Dow Jones Newswires said, quoting a term sheet.
In a short statement AIA said trading in it had been suspended in Hong Kong on Monday pending the potential sale by AIG on a “significant portion” of its stake. AIA said it expects the trading to resume no later than Tuesday.
AIG has sold off assets as it restructured itself back to a path of profitability, and raising money to repay the $182 billion bailout it received from the US government four years ago.
It has sold AIA shares twice this year, raising a total of $8 billion. The move also comes a week after the US Treasury sold off all of its remaining shares in AIG, earning the government $7.6 billion from the sale and taking the government’s net profit on the AIG bailout to $22.7 billion.
Hong Kong, Dec 17, 2012 (AFP)
