Embattled insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) said it will sell three of its Japanese life insurance businesses.
As part of its effort to pay off a massive US government loan, AIG has decided to unload Alico Japan, AIG Edison Life Insurance Co, and AIG Star Life Insurance Co, the company said in a statement late on Friday.
On the brink of failure last month, AIG was bailed out when the government offered it an US$85 billion loan during the ongoing credit crisis that saw Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc file for bankruptcy protection and the sale of Merrill Lynch & Co to Bank of America Corp. In return for the loan, the government received warrants to purchase up to 79.9 percent of AIG.
AIG, one of the world’s biggest insurers, also said on Friday in New York that it would sell a number of business units around the world, though it did not specifically disclose all the assets being considered for sale or their expected prices.
However, the New York-based insurer said it plans to retain its US property and casualty and foreign general insurance businesses, and also plans to retain an ownership interest in its foreign life insurance operations.
A number of overseas life insurance companies are believed to be interested in buying the three Japan subsidiaries, according to the Nikkei financial daily.
Germany’s Allianz Group and Aegon NV of the Netherlands have shown strong interest in buying the three firms, Kyodo News reported yesterday, quoting unnamed sources close to the deal.
Japan’s top non-life insurer Tokio Marine Holdings was also showing interest and had already started collecting information about their finances, according to the evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun.
Alico Japan is expected to be priced at around ¥2 trillion (US$19 billion), with AIG Star and AIG Edison seen to sell for at least ¥500 billion, respectively, Kyodo reported, quoting its sources.
AIG’s Japan unit said it will retain its casualty insurance operations, in line with the company’s overall plan to refocus on its core property and casualty insurance businesses.
Newly appointed chairman and chief executive Edward Liddy, former CEO of Allstate Corp, said AIG has been contacted by “numerous” parties regarding possible sales of businesses, and AIG will try to sell its operations to “brand-name” buyers who have strong ratings and balance sheets.
“Our goal is to emerge from this process in a timely fashion as a smaller, but more nimble company that is solidly profitable and has attractive, long-term growth prospects,” Liddy said in his first call with investors and analysts. “I think what the Federal Reserve has provided us has been very generous and we are going to do everything we cannot to have to go back to them.”
One unit that analysts have said could be sold is International Lease Finance Corp, which leases out more than 900 aircraft with asset values topping US$44 billion at the end of the second quarter. Another unit that could possibly be sold is consumer-focused lender American General Finance Corp.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS