US Treasury to sell $5.8bn of AIG shares

The US Treasury is to sell part of its majority shareholding in failed insurer AIG.

The Treasury department, which bailed out American International Group (AIG) at the height of the financial crisis, said it planned to sell 200m AIG shares at $29 (£18) each, in a move which would raise $5.8bn. According to the BBC, the deal, which will take the US government's stake to 77% from 92%, will yield just $0.27 profit per share, with estimates the government paid around $28.73 per share when it bailed the insurer out. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner said: "Today's announcement represents an important milestone as we continue to exit our stake in AIG. "The decision to pro...