Former Pru boss tucker joins AIA
AIA WILL today announce the shock appointment of the former head of FTSE-100-listed Prudential as its new chief executive.
Mark Tucker will take the reigns at the firm just weeks after Prudential’s $35.5bn (£23bn) AIA takeover bid humiliatingly collapsed.
He will now be responsible for overseeing the firm’s momentous listing, resurrected last week, which could raise more than $20bn – the biggest ever conducted in Hong Kong.
Tucker, 53, was a major player in the growth of Prudential’s Asian business. He held the chief executive position from 2005 until quitting in 2009. He had been touted as a possible replacement for Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam if the chief executive buckles under the pressure to quit in the wake of the failed takeover bid.
Tucker will replace Mark Wilson, who has held the top job at the Asian wing of AIG since last year. Wilson is expected to remain at the unit until the end of 2010.
He courted controversy during the Prudential bid when it emerged he planned to quit the firm if the takeover went ahead. The native New Zealander was hired by Edmund Tse, AIA’s former chief executive, from AXA Asia Pacific in 2006.
The appointment is the latest sign that AIG boss Robert Benmosche is asserting his authority at the bailed out insurer, which is nearly 80 per cent owned by the US government.
Last week Harvey Golub quit the firm after falling out with Benmosche over the failed Prudential deal.
Benmosche was a strong proponent of the bid and was understood to be willing to push through a deal at a lower price when it ran into trouble. However he clashed with AIA’s management and was overruled by AIG’s board, leading to the collapse.
The failed bid cost Prudential an estimated £450m and has led to persistant calls for the heads of Thiam and chairman Harvey McGrath.
The flotation, slated for October, is now vital if AIG is to fully repay the $182.3bn government bailout package. Sources close to the firm say they do not expect the IPO to be delayed as a result of Tucker’s appointment.
The firm hopes to raise $20bn by selling around 40 per cent of the business on the market and releasing further stakes to strategic investors.
AIG was unavailable for comment.