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Temasek, Pacific Century Group To Join Franklin’s Bid For AIG Unit

By Madhav A Chanchani

  • 03 Jun 2009

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd and Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li's Pacific Century Group have joined the race for American International Group’s (AIG) asset management unit, reports Wall Street Journal. Richard Li is son of Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man.

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The two players will be part of the consortium led by Franklin Templeton Investments, who emerged as a frontrunner for the assets. Franklin is in exclusive talks to acquire AIG Investments unit, which has around $85 billion in funds under management.

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Franklin has already partnered with Crestview Partners LP, a New York-based private equity firm, for the bid. India's Religare Enterprise has also showed interest in the unit, and had partnered

with Australian banking giant Macquarie to buy out AIG Investments. The deal is expected to be in the range of $500 million, and be closed by end of the month. The acquisition is expected to be in a form of management buyout, with top management being retained and given a stake.

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In another development, AIG has agreed to sell two New York buildings, including its downtown Manhattan headquarters. The insurer has also sold its consumer finance operations in Argentina for nearly $44 million to Banco Galicia. AIG is selling its assets in order to repay the $182.5 billion bailout by the US government.

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AIG also has two insurance JVs with India's Tata group - Tata AIG Life and Tata AIG General. The Tata's are expected to buy AIG's stake in these ventures.

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