AIG’s $4.8bn sale of its aircraft leasing unit has been thrown into doubt after it emerged that one of the main backers of a consortium that struck an agreement to buy the business had pulled out.
AIG, the US insurer that has been forced to sell off large chunks of its business after its near bankruptcy during the financial crisis, will be left to try and list International Lease Finance Corp in rocky stock markets if the sale collapses.
New China Trust, which is part-owned by Barclays, was expected to provide the biggest portion of the funding alongside China Aviation Industrial Fund and P3 Investments, but withdrew in May, according to people familiar with the proposed deal.