The Treasury Department said on Monday that it planned to sell its remaining holdings of common stock in the American International Group, essentially ending taxpayers’ four-year ownership of the bailed-out insurer.
The Treasury Department said that it had begun a public offering of its 15.9 percent stake in A.I.G., amounting to about 234.2 million shares. It is the latest in a string of sales by the federal government, which has quickly reduced taxpayers’ holdings over the last two years.
All that would be left is a relatively small number of warrants that give the department the right to buy additional shares in A.I.G.
If completed, the sale would represent the achievement of a long-held goal of both the Obama administration and A.I.G. itself: ending the government’s ownership of the insurer. For the Treasury Department, it would signify a complete exit from perhaps the most controversial rescue struck during the financial crisis of 2008. In return for making up to $182 billion available to the company, the government received a stake that at its peak represented 92 percent of the company.
And for A.I.G., it would represent an unambiguous transformation into a fully private enterprise, an insurer that has clambered back from the brink of annihilation. Over the last four years, the company has sold off a number of assets in an effort to repay its bailout.
While the Treasury Department did not outline a timetable for its latest stock offering, the sale is expected to be completed quickly. Unlike in previous offerings, A.I.G. is not expected to buy back any of the shares being offered.
A spokesman for A.I.G. declined to comment.
The offering is being run by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
DealBook: U.S. to Sell Last Holdings of A.I.G. Common Stock
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DealBook: U.S. to Sell Last Holdings of A.I.G. Common Stock
