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Sunday, November 8, 
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AIG's ILFC may get bids from PE

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Word is that American International Group Inc.'s (NYSE:AIG) aircraft leasing unit could get bids from three private equity groups. Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, Carlyle Group, and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC partnering with Onex Corp. could all bid for International Lease Finance Corp., or ILFC, in the auction's second round in April, according to a Reuters article. 

The Catch-22 is that in order to sell the unit the company could need help from the government or a third-party lender because AIG agreed to help the buyer with financing. AIG does not have the funds to meet debt obligations for ILFC's operations in 2009 due to the struggling airline business and the loss of its federal commercial paper lending facility after key credit ratings cut.

The insurer has committed to support the plane unit's short-term liquidity needs until a sale or the end of March 2010. In order to fulfill its obligations, it may need more government financing or a third party, according to Bloomberg. ILFC needs secured financing to fund contractual obligations through the end of April. The company said AIG has approved an additional $900 million loan to be provided by AIG Funding at the end of this month, subject to New York Federal Reserve consent, according to Reuters.

ILFC has a book value of $7.5 billion as of Sept. 30, and bids could be around $5 billion.

The auction is one of several the insurer is holding in order to pay back the government's $180 billion loan. Here are the latest reports on asset sale progress:

Sold:

Still for sale:

  • Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. (NYSE:AMP) has dropped out of the race for AIG's  adviser group, according to a source close to the situation.The Minneapolis-based financial services company was the only strategic bidder of four remaining prospective buyers. As of March 12, 2008, Ameriprise, along with private equity firms Clayton, Dublier & Rice Inc., GTCR Golder Rauner LLC and Warburg Pincus LLC, were expected to submit final bids at the end of March, as earlier reported by The Daily Deal.
  • It has been widely reported that AIG is in talks to sell personal car insurance unit, 21st Century Insurance, to Zurich Financial Services. The asset is rumored be be worth $2 billion.
  • AIG Global Real Estate fund management business has around $12.4 billion in assets and $5.2 billion in equity capital. The unit could be sold for about $9 billion. Interested bidders could include BlackRock Inc. and Blackstone Group LP (which might be a conflict because Blackstone is advising). Included in that is its Japanese headquarters in Tokyo, which may bring in more than $1 billion.
  • AIG Edison Life Insurance Co. and AIG Star Life Insurance Co. are also for sale. Bidders could include: Prudential Financial Inc., Manulife Financial Corp., Allianz Group, Aegon NV, Nippon Life Insurance Co., Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., T&D Holdings Inc. and Manulife Life Insurance Co. The value is estimated to be around $1 billion.

The sale of AIG's Alico, Philamlife unit and AIA were all scrapped after the government's  last bailout. - Maria Woehr

Also see:

Ameriprise out of race for AIG Adviser unit
Will AIG go down in flames?

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