(Bloomberg) — American International Group Inc. plans to return $25 billion to shareholders over the next two years as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock divests assets and seeks to boost returns to protect his job amid criticism from activist investor Carl Icahn.
Hancock will offer a 19.9% stake in the mortgage insurer United Guaranty Corp. to the public in a step toward a complete exit of that business, AIG said Tuesday in a statement ahead of the CEO's presentation to Wall Street. The insurer also is reorganizing into "modular" business segments to create flexibility to sell or take public additional units if they underperform. Hancock's vow on shareholder returns follows more than $9 billion of share buybacks in 2015.
"The $25 billion capital return is eye-catching to say the least," David Havens, a debt analyst at Imperial Capital, said in a message. "They are navigating a middle ground that preserves most of AIG as it is now, but offers the flexibility to spin off or sell units in the future."
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