Pru investors warned off AIA takeover - papers

Prudential's efforts to persuade shareholders to back its $35.5bn takeover of AIA, the Asian business of AIG, have been dealt a blow after an influential voting adviser to investors told its clients to vote against the deal.

RiskMetrics, the international proxy advisory service, issued a critical assessment of the AIA takeover bid, saying while a deal had "a sensible strategic rationale", the Pru was paying a full price, writes the FT. "A full price, integration risk and ambitious targets that barely meet the cost of capital do not make a compelling combination," it said. "For this reason, it is recommended that shareholders vote against the acquisition of AIA." RiskMetrics, which advises 2,400 clients globally including 69 of the 100 largest investment managers, said the Pru was paying $35.5bn for a comp...