US Treasury to make $7.6bn in sale of remaining AIG shares
THE US Treasury’s sale of its remaining stake in American International Group (AIG) will fetch $7.6bn (£4.7bn), bringing the government a total profit of $22.7bn from its crisis-era bailout of the insurer.
The share offering will close the chapter on one of the most politically contentious rescues of 2008, which ultimately gave AIG up to $182bn of government support.
AIG said yesterday that the Treasury agreed to sell 234.2m shares to investors for $32.50 apiece. The insurer said that Treasury has additional AIG warrants that it can sell to boost the government’s $22.7bn of total returns so far.
At one point, the government estimated that it would never recover all of the bailout money, but as AIG restructured, it was able to repay the entire rescue fund and generate a profit for US taxpayers.