Here for a good time, not a long time
Shares of AIG fell Monday after the U.S. Treasury Department said it plans to sell $18 billion of the company’s shares. The sale would make the government a minority shareholder, taking its stake from 53% to around 20%.
While the government was expected to unwind its stake in AIG, many thought the sale would take place over a longer period of time. AIG executives have said that they expect the government to have completely sold its position in the insurer by the end of 2013. This would be the Treasury’s largest sale of AIG shares so far, and comes as the Democratic Party looks to separate itself from bank bailouts paid during the financial crisis.
The sale would also put AIG under the purview of the Federal Reserve as a savings and loan company since it owns a small bank. AIG has said that it will buy as much as $5 billion of the offering, and last week sold its stake in Asian insurer AIA to help fund the buyback.
American Intl. Group (AIG : NYSE : US$33.30), Net Change: -0.69, % Change: -2.03%, Volume: 37,401,016
