Report: MetLife Close to Acquiring AIG Life Insurance Unit

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that MetLife is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire AIG's American Life Insurance Company, commonly known as Alico.From WSJ.com:

MetLife Inc. is in final negotiations to purchase one of the biggest international life-insurance units of government-controlled American International Group Inc. for between $14 billion and $15 billion, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

[snip]

In recent weeks, the talks have gotten more serious, these people added, and two sides hope to announce a deal in coming weeks. The insurers have broadly agreed on price and are now working on final deal points, though some material issues remain that could scuttle the deal, said these people.

The deal is complicated by the role of AIG CEO Robert Benmosche who, as the top executive at MetLife from 1998 to 2006, still reportedly holds significant MetLife shares and stock options.

To deal with potential conflicts of interest, AIG set up an independent special transaction committee to handle negotiations between the two companies, while also keeping Mr. Benmosche insulated from the talks.

I&T has contacted MetLife for comment. Check this space for updates. You can read the WSJ article here.

Update:

A MetLife spokesperson responded to our request for comment and said that it is company policy to not comment on rumors or speculation regarding potential M&A transactions.

"What I can tell you is this: MetLife does not need to enter into any M&A transaction to meet its business objectives, and, as we've previously stated, our philosophy regarding M&A activity is that any deal MetLife pursues would be strategically important and financially attractive to our shareholders," the MetLife source told I&T.