The Asian unit of troubled US insurer AIG has raised US$20.5 billion in a Hong Kong share sale that was the world’s third-biggest initial public offering (IPO), a spokeswoman said yesterday.
Some of the cash from AIA’s huge IPO will go toward helping its parent pay off a US$182 billion bailout it received from the US taxpayer at the height of the global financial crisis.
AIG said on Monday it had also raised US$16.2 billion by selling unit American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) to MetLife Inc.
PHOTO: AFP
BAILOUT PAYMENT
The repayment of the huge sums handed out to troubled US companies is a priority for the embattled administration of US President Barack Obama, which faced voter anger at mid-term elections yesterday in the US.
AIG was forced to look at -floating AIA in Hong Kong after the collapse in June of a proposed US$35.5 billion sale to British insurer Prudential.
AIA raised US$17.8 billion in the sale last month, but said at the time the IPO could top US$20 billion if certain options were exercised.
The IPO “raised US$20.51 billion after the exercise of the greenshoe option, which brings the total number of shares offered to about 8.08 billion,” an AIA spokeswoman said yesterday.
Peter Lai (黎永良), sales director at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong, said: “Many institutional investors had to buy shares [after the IPO] as the portion of shares set aside for them was quite small.”
In July, Agricultural Bank of China (中國農業銀行) claimed title to the world’s biggest IPO with a monster US$22.1 billion offering, beating the previous record set by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (中國工商銀行), which raised US$21.9 billion in 2006.
GENERAL MOTORS
Separately, the sale of General Motors (GM) stock is expected to raise about US$10 billion in an IPO that will reduce the US government’s stake in the automaker to below 50 percent, three people briefed on the sale said on Monday.
GM common stock is expected to sell for between US$26 and US$29 a share when the IPO takes place around Nov. 18, according to the three people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak on the matter.
That would value the company at more than US$46 billion — roughly on par with crosstown rival Ford Motor Co.
US taxpayers, who bailed out GM last year, would see their ownership stake drop from 61 percent to around 43 percent, not including any extra allotment of shares bankers could offer to satisfy strong demand, the people said.
GM and its bankers will begin a “road show” to woo investors in the IPO later this week.
The show, which could begin as early today, will be aimed at hedge, pension and mutual funds, but presentations are expected for individual investors. Common shares worth roughly US$2 billion would be sold to investors in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, one of the people said.
The expected price range of the IPO is higher than a forecast given by GM chairman Ed Whitacre last month. He said each share would sell for between US$20 and US$25.
Bankers leading the sale are recommending that the final share price be revealed on Nov. 17 and the sale take place a day later, the people said.
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