AIG raises $6.4B from sale of remaining AIA stake
AIG raises $6.4B from sale of remaining stake in Asian life insurer AIA Group
HONG KONG (AP) -- U.S. insurance company AIG sold its remaining stake in Asian life insurer AIA Group for $6.4 billion, the Hong Kong based-company said Tuesday.
American International Group Ltd. sold nearly 1.65 billion shares, which represented AIG's remaining stake of approximately 14 percent, at 30.30 Hong Kong dollars ($3.90) each, AIA Group Ltd. said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The selling price was a 4.3 percent discount to Friday's closing price of HK$31.65.
AIG, based in New York, said on Monday it plans to use the proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes.
AIG sold $6 billion in AIA Group stock in March and $2 billion more in another sale in September. After the September stock sale it was restricted from selling any of its remaining shares until Dec. 10.
American International Group nearly collapsed in 2008. It received $182 billion from the U.S. government, which was the biggest of the Wall Street bailouts, after suffering massive losses from investments in derivatives.
In 2010, the company spun off AIA in Hong Kong's biggest ever initial public offering to raise $20 billion, which was used to pay bailout debt.
Last week the Treasury Department announced that it sold all of its remaining shares in AIG. The Treasury received $32.50 per share for its 234.2 million remaining shares, which represented a 16 percent stake in AIG. With this sale, the Treasury said that the government has received $22.7 billion more than the $182 billion bailout it provided to support AIG during the height of the financial crisis.
Since the financial meltdown, AIG has undergone a significant restructuring which has cut the size of the company nearly in half as it concentrates on its mainstay insurance business.
