NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

US to sell AIG shares

By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times –

The U.S. government is selling an additional $18 billion of its shares in insurer American International Group Inc., the company and the Treasury Department announced Sunday.

The sale would reduce the Treasury Department’s holdings to less than a majority stake in the company.

The U.S. had acquired those shares after it pledged more than $182 billion to bail out AIG in exchange for a 92 percent ownership stake in September 2008, when the company nearly collapsed, marking the largest corporate rescue of the global financial crisis.

AIG ended up using about $125 billion of the amount pledged.

Since then, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have been unwinding that stake through periodic sales.

The latest sale will mark the government’s fifth sale of AIG stock in the last two years.

In August, the U.S. sold $5 billion of the company’s stock, reducing its stake in the company to 55 percent from 61 percent.

The Federal Reserve said in August that U.S. taxpayers had earned $17.7 billion from the central bank’s role in bailing out the insurance giant.

As has been the case in past sales, the shares will be sold to institutional investors. AIG said it would buy back $5 billion worth. The price has not been determined.

If there is more demand for the AIG shares, the company said the government would grant the underwriters a 30-day option to buy as much as $2.7 billion more of its shares in the company.

AIG, which serves customers in more than 130 countries, said Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities have been retained as joint global coordinators for the offering.

On Friday, AIG shares closed at $33.99, up 47 percent this year. If the proposed sale were to occur at Friday’s closing price, the U.S. would end up with a 23 percent stake in AIG, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The first two AIG stock sales went for $29 a share and next two at $30.50.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler
Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x