American International Group Inc. is in talks to sell a stake in an overseas life insurance unit to a group led by a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, the Nikkei newspaper said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
AIG is negotiating to sell a minority stake in its American Life Insurance Co. unit, which operates in more than 55 countries including Japan, the newspaper said. The group including the China Investment Corp. and China-based insurers and have until yearend to come to an agreement with AIG, the Nikkei said.
Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy is trying to sell almost all of AIG's businesses excluding property-causality insurance to repay a U.S. loan that saved the firm from bankruptcy. The company said Oct. 3 that it would look for buyers or investors in two overseas life insurance companies -- one operating in Japan, parts of Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and the other operating in China, Korea and India.
AIG wants to keep majority control in the American Life Insurance unit, the newspaper said, and a 49 percent stake may cost 500 billion yen ($5.2 billion) to 1 trillion yen. An agreement may lead to other deals with the sovereign wealth fund, the Nikkei said.
Nicholas Ashooh, a spokesman for New York-based AIG, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. An e-mail to the China Investment Corp. wasn't immediately returned.
Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid
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