aig exits hk with sale of aia stake

US insurer AIG has sold its remaining 13.7% stake in AIA Group, finally exiting the business it founded in Hong Kong nearly a century ago.

aig exits hk with sale of aia stake

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Priced at 30.50 Hong Kong dollars per share, the sale of the stake has raised $6.5bn (£4bn).

In a statement, Mark Tucker, AIA chief executive said: “This latest divestment of the remaining holding is noteworthy in AIA’s history since it marks the end of AIG’s shareholder interest in AIA.”

AIG sold around two thirds of AIA in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in October 2010, raising $20.5bn, two years after the US government bailed out the giant US insurer at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

In March 2010, the UK’s Prudential group offered $35bn to buy AIA but this was rejected by AIA.

Fast growing AIA, which operates in 16 markets, also announced today that it has successfully completed the acquisition of ING Management Holdings (Malaysia), which was first announced in October, following  regulatory approvals.

ING Malaysia is the third largest insurer in Malaysia, with more than 1.6m customers and offering a suite of products including life, general and employee benefits as well as Takaful insurance products through a joint venture.

“With a combined customer base of over 2.6 million people, approximately 16,600 agents and an exclusive bancassurance relationship with one of Malaysia’s leading banking organisations, our enlarged business in Malaysia represents a very powerful proposition that will result in a positive outcome for our shareholders, customers, employees and agents,”  Tucker said in a statement today.

In November, AIA announced that it had appointed Bill Lisle, AIA’s group chief distribution officer, to lead the integration of ING Malaysia with AIA’s business in Malaysia, reporting to Ng Keng Hooi, regional chief executive.
 

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