AIG yesterday took another step away from its troubled past, selling Alico, its non-US life assurance business, to its US rival MetLife for $15.5bn in cash and securities in a deal that will enable it to settle part of its debts to US taxpayers.
The acquisition of Alico – one of the cornerstones of AIG's overseas success over more than seven decades – will transform MetLife from a company largely focused on the US into a group with 90m customers in 64 countries.
The long-awaited sale of Alico, first reported by the Financial Times in July, will give the US government an indirect stake of up to 20 per cent in MetLife alongside its 80 per cent ownership of AIG.