British insurer Prudential yesterday said it would not resurrect its failed bid for US insurer American International Group’s (AIG) Asian unit, calling speculation about reviving the mammoth takeover “misguided and inaccurate.”
Prudential abandoned its bid for the group’s American International Assurance (AIA) subsidiary last week, throwing the future of its chief executive Tidjane Thiam into doubt amid shareholder anger over the collapsed deal.
EVERYONE’S SAFE
Both he and Prudential chairman Harvey McGrath have insisted that no heads will roll following the collapse of the AIA deal. Thiam will face shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting today.
The aborted deal, which ended Prudential’s quest to become the world’s top insurance firm outside of China, came one day after troubled AIG refused to cut the price tag from US$35.5 billion nearer to US$30 billion.
The huge transaction, which would have been the biggest-ever takeover in the insurance sector, had needed re-negotiation because of turbulent financial markets, Prudential said.
RESPONSE
The company’s statement yesterday came in response to a report in Britain’s the Sunday Times that cited unnamed sources as saying Thiam was planning to revive the AIA takeover, derailing its possible flotation in Hong Kong.
“We remain highly committed to Asia through our current very successful business,” Prudential said in the statement.
“[But] we will not be resurrecting the AIA deal and any speculation is misguided and inaccurate,” it said.
WOOING INVESTORS
Last month, Prudential took out secondary listings in Hong Kong and Singapore to woo Asian investors ahead of a planned issue of shares designed to raise US$21 billion to help fund the now-aborted AIA takeover.
The collapsed deal cost Prudential some £450 million (US$650 million), including a break-up fee of more than £152 million.
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