Some of American International Group’s (AIG) shareholders want to help the company pay off the federal government’s US$85 billion loan and avoid ceding a majority stake in the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The shareholders are considering raising money, which could include bringing in other investors, according to the story on the Journal’s Web site, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
AIG, one of the world’s largest insurers, teetered on the brink of collapse early this week as it looked for fresh cash to help shore up its balance sheet, which was facing a liquidity shortfall amid the continued downturn in the credit markets. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve agreed to provide the New York-based company with the two-year, US$85 billion package in return for a 79.9 percent stake in AIG and the ability to remove senior management.
On Thursday, AIG named former Allstate Corp chief executive officer (CEO) Edward Liddy as chairman and chief executive, replacing Robert Willumstad, who took over the company in June.
The government’s acquisition is subject to shareholder approval, as AIG noted also on Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing did not disclose when a vote might take place.
The shareholders’ effort is aimed at trying to make sure the government is paid back quickly, so that it won’t need to take the stake, the Journal said.
An AIG spokesman did not have an immediate comment, and a spokesman for AIG’s largest individual shareholder, former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, declined to comment.
AIG shareholders have suffered severely, largely to losses linked to the mortgage market. Its stock has fallen more than 90 percent this year.
On Friday, the stock was up with the broader market, as the government outlined bold plans to help rescue banks from billions of dollars in toxic assets. A temporary ban on short selling also helped boost financial stocks.
New York-based AIG operates a range of insurance and financial services businesses ranging from property, casualty, auto and life insurance to annuity and investment services.
The company’s problems stem from the more exotic financial products it offers, including some that insure risky debt and bonds against default. The value of those instruments, known as credit default swaps, have deteriorated amid the downturn in the credit markets over the past year.
The swaps are essentially insurance coverage to protect investors against defaulting bonds or debt.
For the three quarters ended in June, AIG lost about US$25 billion in the value of credit default swaps.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS