AIG Exits $500 Million Stake in Blackstone Group
The largest U.S. insurance company, American International Group, has sold its $500 million stake in one of the world’s largest private equity firms, Blackstone Group, sources told CNBC Friday.
The sale is part of a capital race for AIG , as it seeks to pay back the U.S. government from its 2008 bailout.
AIG originally bought the stake in Blackstone in July 1998, long before the private equity firm’s initial public offering in 2007.
Blackstone has long been an adviser to AIG, but the sale marks building tensions between the two firms.
The buyer of AIG’s stake is not yet known, as both companies declined to comment further on the trade.
The trade was executed before the market opened on Friday. Shares of both companies were down slightly on this news.
—Original reporting by CNBC's Kayla Tausche, written by Jennifer Leigh Parker.