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| AIG | |
| Size | $6 billion sell-down of AIA (Hong Kong) |
| Joint global coordinators | Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup |
| return to the Asia Deals of the Year index | |
Early last year, a heavy gloom had settled over most of the equity markets of the Asia Pacific region and ECM bankers were complaining to anyone who would listen about how bored they were, bemoaning choppy trading conditions for scaring companies away from doing deals. So when US insurer American International Group (AIG) raised $6 billion through the sale of its stake in AIA in March it provided the market with a much-needed reason to celebrate. With the benefit of hindsight, though, the block trade provided what turned out to be false hope of a wider equity market revival. The fact that it did not lead to a flurry of deal activity, however, does little to diminish the achievement in getting such a large deal away in the midst of multiple and often severe challenges. Although the deal priced at the bottom of its range, with a maximum 7% discount to the stock, it was a very big transaction – the second-largest block trade ever in Asia after China Mobile.