FACTBOX-Five facts about new AIA head Tucker

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Former Prudential Plc (PRU.L) chief executive Mark Tucker was on Monday named by bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) (AIG.N) as executive chairman and CEO of its Asian life insurance business, American International Assurance (AIA), replacing existing head Mark Wilson. [ID:nTOE66I026]

Following are five facts about Tucker:

* Started adult life as a trainee professional footballer in Britain, making appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rochdale and Barnet.

* Is a chartered accountant. First joined Prudential group in 1986, working initially in Prudential Portfolio Managers Limited. Was Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia for a decade up until 2003.

* Left Prudential in 2004 to join HBOS Plc as finance director. But returned as Prudential’s CEO in 2005 and stayed in that role until 2009, when he quit the group.

* Had eyed acquisition of AIA when he was CEO, but AIG did not proceed with the sale then.

* Born on Dec. 29, 1957 (Compiled by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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UPDATE 1-AIG names ex-Pru CEO Tucker AIA boss, revives AIA IPO

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, July 19 (Reuters) – Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) (AIG.N) named former Prudential plc (PRU.L) Chief Executive Mark Tucker as head of its Asia life insurance business, AIA, replacing existing boss Mark Wilson.

AIG said in a statement on Monday that it would also seek to list American International Assurance Co Ltd (AIA) on the Hong Kong stock exchange, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.

AIG gave no explanation for ousting Wilson, who was well regarded within AIA.

“After reviewing various options to monetize AIA’s substantial value, we have concluded that an IPO is our best option,” Robert H. Benmosche, AIG Chief Executive Officer said in a statement.

“Mark Tucker has the public company experience, track record, relationships…that will help us accomplish our ambitious goals of not just taking a company of AIA’s size and scope public, but building on this great platform for the long term to create Asia’s pre-eminent, publicly traded insurance company,” he added.

Wilson’s ouster also comes less than a week after AIG’s Chairman Harvey Golub resigned over a disagreement with Benmosche.

The move is the latest sign that Benmosche is asserting his authority at AIG, which is nearly 80 percent-owned by the U.S. government. The board room battle at AIG intensified after British insurer Prudential’s plc (PRU.L) $35.5 billion bid for AIA collapsed last month.

Wilson, who was instrumental in holding AIA together when AIG was on the brink of collapse, had reportedly threatened to resign if Prudential’s acquisition had gone ahead. That put him in odds with the AIG management.

AIA is already functioning without a chief financial officer and a chief legal counsel, and the company has installed a new CEO just months before a massive IPO.

Bankers have previously told Reuters that AIA could raise $15 billion through an IPO, which is expected before the end of 2010. (Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

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UPDATE 1-Resolution sets sub-underwriting fee-source

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Sub-underwriters for Resolution’s (RSL.L) 2.75 billion purchase of AXA’s (AXAF.PA) British life insurance business will receive a commission fee of 1.75 percent, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Resolution said in a statement that leading shareholders had already underwritten 52 percent of the cash call, around 2 billion pounds, that will finance the acquisition.

The group is paying a total underwriting commission of 2.72 percent of the value of the new ordinary shares at the rights issue price.

(Reporting by Victoria Howley; Editing by David Cowell)

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Sterling eases as Pru/AIG effects subside

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) – Sterling trimmed earlier gains on Wednesday as the one-off positive currency effects of the collapse of Prudential’s attempt to buy AIG’s Asian arm subsided.

The pound had risen broadly in early trade after British insurer Prudential plc (PRU.L) said it was withdrawing from a $35.5 billion deal to buy American International Group Inc’s (AIG.N) Asian life insurance business AIA. [ID:nTOE65100R]

Traders said Prudential had put in place a series of currency hedges, selling sterling against the dollar, when the initial bid was announced in March and these positions had needed to be unwound.

“The rally of the past two sessions has been driven solely by the news that the Prudential’s ambition to buy AIG’s Asian arm has failed and this implied that pre-deal hedging positioning have had to be unwound on a large scale,” said Audrey Childe-Freeman, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman.

At 1030 GMT, sterling had eased back to trade around flat versus the dollar GBP=D4 at $1.4650, having risen to a high of $1.4771 in early London trade.

“There is no new domestic political or economic development to justify the rally of the past few sessions, which is why we would call for caution on the bullish cable trade,” added Childe-Freeman.

Versus the euro EURGBP=D4, sterling also eased to trade around flat at 83.55 pence after initially extending 18-month highs to 82.80.

Traders said there were significant stop-loss orders building underneath that level and that the technical picture was still positive for sterling versus the euro.

“There’s been a shift in the technical complexion for sterling versus the euro and that should be quite supportive,” said Credit Agricole CIB’s deputy head of foreign exchange research Daragh Maher.

“My year-end target for euro/sterling is 80 pence,” he added.

Sterling had also eased from a four-month high versus a currency basket =GBP of 80.80 to stand at 80.50, according to Bank of England data.

British mortgage approvals rose slightly more than expected in April, but unsecured lending fell for the first time since November, official data showed on Wednesday.

Separate figures from the Bank of England showed its preferred money supply gauge — M4 excluding intermediate other financial corporations — slowed sharply in April to 0.3 percent on the month.

(Editing by Ron Askew)

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UPDATE 3-Market Chatter — Corporate finance press digest

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media:

* U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) has emerged as a leading participant to buy electronics retailer RadioShack Corp (RSH.N) after an initial round of bids was completed last week, the New York Post said, citing sources familiar with the matter. [ID:nSGE6500CF]

* Spain’s second-largest savings bank Caja Madrid is seeking up to 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) from a government rescue fund set up to promote mergers among the country’s network of unlisted regional banks, El Pais reported on Tuesday citing financial sources. [ID:nLDE65003M]

* Barclays (BARC.L) started negotiations to sell half of its French life-insurance business, valued at 130 million euros ($159 million), in a first round table meeting last week, a French daily said on Tuesday. [ID:nLDE65003P]

* South Africa’s MTN (MTNJ.J), the continent’s biggest cellphone carrier, could reopen merger talks with India’s Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO) at a board meeting on Tuesday, India’s Economic Times newspaper reported, citing a single unidentified source. [ID:nSGE65005A]

* Merger talks between leading Chinese steel mill Baosteel (600019.SS) and the Baotou Iron and Steel Group of Inner Mongolia have collapsed after four years of negotiations, the 21st Century Business Herald said on Tuesday. [ID:nTOE650044]

* Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, may sell its 24.6 percent stake in telecoms firm Zain (ZAIN.KW), according to a newspaper report. [ID:nLDE64U0TZ]

* Spain’s Telefonica (TEF.MC) is considering a proposal to seek a change of management at Portugal Telecom (PT) (PTC.LS) if the Portuguese company does not agree to sell its stake in Brazilian joint venture Vivo (VIVO4.SA), Diario Economico reported. [ID:nLDE64U0LD]

* French banks BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) are interested in bidding for the 70 percent stake in Polish bank Zachodni BZWB.WA that Allied Irish Bank (AIB.N) (ALBK.I) is selling, French daily La Tribune reported. [ID:nLDE64U04Q]

* Several Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are holding talks with Agricultural Bank of China [ABC.UL] about investing in its IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong this year, the China Business News reported. [ID:nTOE64U00D]

For Deals of the day, please click on [ID:nSGE6500C9] (Compiling by Tresa Sherin Morera; Editing by David Holmes)

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