Pru loses £450m on abandoned AIA deal

Prudential plans to terminate its proposed acquisition of AIA after failing to reduce the $35.5bn cost of the deal.

The group was unable to convince AIA owner AIG to lower the price of the transaction to $30.38bn. Pru has therefore abandoned its plans for the UK's largest rights issue. Pru will make a £450m loss on the failied acquisition, which includes a £152.6m break fee to AIG. Both chairman Harvey McGrath and Tidjane Thiam blamed market movements on the failure of the deal. "While AIA was an excellent opportunity, since we announced the potential transaction we have seen significant falls in the markets," McGrath says. "We listened carefully to shareholders over the price and initiated a...