WASHINGTON, December 1 – US insurance giant American International Group, which was partly nationalized in September, said Monday it had agreed to sell its Switzerland-based AIG Private Bank to an investment firm in Abu Dhabi.
Aabar Investments PJSC will buy the wholly owned AIG subsidiary for 307 million Swiss francs (254 million dollars), an amount subject to adjustments, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered firm said in a separate statement.
Under the deal, Aabar will assume Private Bank loans up to 100 million Swiss francs (83 million dollars).
The companies said that upon completion of the transaction AIG Private Bank would become an independent financial institution headquartered in Switzerland, with branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Dubai.
The bank will operate under a new name and will continue to focus on providing wealth management services to clients in Switzerland, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
At the end of 2007, AIG Private Bank had 21 billion Swiss francs (17.4 billion dollars) of assets under management.
AIG, the world\’s largest insurer before the global credit crisis, was on the brink of collapse when the US government offered an 85-billion-dollar lifeline and took a stake in the firm in mid-September, at the time the biggest corporate bailout in history.
The government rescue, which has since ballooned to 152 billion dollars, requires that AIG sell off assets in exchange for the loan.
