Treasury to sell off $5 billion of AIG stock
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department continued to wind down its stake in bailed-out insurance giant American International Group Inc. by agreeing to sell $5 billion of the company’s stock.
With the proceeds from the sale, the government would have about $25 billion in taxpayer money still invested in AIG, which was rescued in a complex, multi-step bailout in 2008 by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.
The government pledged more than $182 billion to AIG, which ended up using about $125 billion in exchange for the U.S. taking a 92% stake in the company. The Treasury Department and the Fed have been unwinding that stake through periodic sales since last year.
The latest sale would reduce the government’s stake to 55% from 61%.
Treasury agreed to sell about 164 million shares at $30.50 a share. AIG shares gained 50 cents, or 1.6%, to $31.34 on Friday. The stock is up 35.1% so far this year.
The company said it would purchase up to $3 billion of the Treasury Department’s shares. The rest would be sold on the open market.
The offering’s underwriters — Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co., and J.P. Morgan Securities — have the option to purchase an additional $675 million in AIG stock from the Treasury Department over the next 30 days.
