US govt working on back-up plan for AIA
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The US Treasury has quietly resurrected plans to float AIG’s Asian arm due to concerns that Prudential’s £24.5bn acquisition of the business may fall through, according to the Sunday Times.
The paper says officials in the States have been working on the plans for the past fortnight, since the FSA stalled the deal by questioning the insurer’s capital adequacy.
It adds that a number of Asia’s largest insurance companies, such as China Life and Ping An, and banks, including ICBC and Bank of China, have been approached by US Government representatives sounding out their interest in buying up to 20 per cent of AIA as part of a proposed listing.
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is believed to still support the proposed Prudential takeover, which is now in limbo ahead of a key vote by shareholders in two weeks time. But he has requested back-up plans to be drawn up.
The American government took control of AIA after bailing out its parent, AIG, in the peak of the financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam has pledged to take up his full £1.5m allocation in the insurer’s record breaking £14bn rights issue.
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