AIG Canadian Arm May Be Sold in Days, Consultant Says

Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the insurer rescued by the U.S. government, will probably sell its Canadian life insurance unit in the next few days, with the Desjardins Group among potential bidders, said a consultant who has advised AIG.

The sale “could be today, but I would suggest in the next 10 days or so,” said Byren Innes, a senior vice president with Toronto-based NewLink Group Inc., a management consulting firm. “The sale was expected to close by the end of December, but it’s dragged on a little bit.”

AIG, once the world’s biggest insurer by assets, is selling businesses to repay a $60 billion loan that’s part of the U.S. government’s rescue package. The units on the auction block include a jet-leasing company and life insurance divisions from the U.S. to Japan.

Potential buyers include Desjardins, Canada’s biggest credit union, Innes said today. Montreal-based Desjardins offers individual and group life and health insurance and runs brokerage and lending operations, primarily in the French-speaking province of Quebec. The AIG purchase would add to the firm’s distribution network outside Quebec.

AIG sells products including life and health insurance in Canada, according to its Web site. Peter McCarthy, chief executive officer of the Toronto-based AIG Life Insurance Co. of Canada, didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Desjardins spokeswoman Isabelle Truchon declined to comment, as did David Monfried, an AIG spokesman in New York.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at spasternak@bloomberg.net; Zachary R. Mider in New York at zmider1@bloomberg.net.