At least a portion of AIG Investments, the money management unit of American International Group Inc., will be sold, AIG Investments spokeswoman Braden Bledsoe said.
Ms. Bledsoe said the process already has begun, but as of press time was unable to give details on when the sale would take place or whether it would entail a public auction or an invitation-only list for potential buyers.
The federal government has agreed to lend $123 billion to the investment unit’s parent company.
Investment bankers and consultants have spent the last few weeks speculating whether the investment unit will be sold off in parts or remain as is.
Karamvir Gosal, managing director of investment bank Jefferies Putnam Lovell, New York, said it would be difficult to break up the AIG money management unit’s $758 billion portfolio, which held about $127 billion in external client assets as of March 30.
Since both internal and external assets are managed by the same company, Mr. Gosal asked: “How do you sell ($127 billion) in assets?”
“It’s not a Neuberger-Lehman situation where big chunks of assets are tied to different themes,” he said.
