NEW YORK (AP) -- Insurance giant American International Group Inc. has raised approximately $2 billion from the sale of part of its stake in Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd.
The shares were priced at a slight premium to AIA's closing stock price on Thursday. The stock was priced at 26.50 Hong Kong dollars ($3.42), which is less than 1 percent above the 26.30 Hong Kong dollars ($3.39) that AIA closed at Thursday on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
AIG now hold an approximately 14 percent stake in AIA, down from 19 percent.
AIG said late Thursday that it will use the net proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes, which includes possible buybacks of its own shares. AIG's board approved the repurchase of up to $5 billion of shares of its common stock from the U.S. government.
AIG sold $6 billion in AIA stock in March. The company is now restricted from selling any of its remaining shares of AIA until Dec. 10.
AIG, which is based in New York, nearly collapsed in 2008. It received $182 billion from the U.S. government — the biggest of the Wall Street bailout packages — after suffering massive losses from investments in derivatives.
In 2010, the company spun off AIA in Hong Kong's biggest ever initial public offering to raise $20 billion, which was used to pay bailout debt.
The Treasury Department currently owns about 53 percent of AIG stock. It has reduced its stake from 92 percent after selling shares four times in the last couple of years for a total of $23.3 billion.
Shares of AIG added 3 cents to $34.25 in morning trading. They are near the upper end of their 52-week range of $19.18 to $35.36.
