AIG close to unit sale for $300-$400 million: source

By Paritosh Bansal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group Inc (AIG.N) is close to selling its asset management business to a group that includes private equity firm Crestview Partners for $300 million to $400 million, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The source asked not to be named because the talks are private.

A deal for the business would come months after it was first put on the market. The unit had earlier attracted corporate and private equity buyers with initial bids coming in around $500 million, sources had said in February.

The final bidding consortium itself has seen changes. Last month a source said that U.S. asset manager Franklin Resources Inc (BEN.N) had dropped out of the group.

AIG's unaffiliated client assets under management, including retail mutual funds and institutional accounts, were $63.5 billion as of March 31.

AIG and Crestview declined to comment.

In total, AIG has been given a taxpayer lifeline of up to $180 billion over the course of three successive bailouts. The company is expected to report second-quarter results this week. It has reported billions of dollars in losses in each of the previous five quarters.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that the insurer had chosen former MetLife (MET.N) chief Robert Benmosche as its new chief executive to replace Edward Liddy.

AIG's shares were off 4 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $13.10 during afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal, Editing by Phil Berlowitz)