AIG Sells Insurance Premium Finance Unit

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- American International Group (AIG Quote) -- in a continuation of what can only be called the greatest tag-sale in history -- closed the sale of its life insurance premium finance business, raking in $679.5 million in cash in the process.

First Insurance Funding, subsidiary of Wintrust Financial(WTFC Quote), purchased the majority of AIG Credit and A.I. Credit Consumer Discount.

If certain conditions are met, First Insurance will also purchase some more life-insurance premium finance assets for $61.2 million.

The property-casualty premium finance business of A.I. Credit was not included in the deal.

The $675.9 million will go towards AIG's repayment of its $85 billion loan from the government. The company has been attempting to sell off asset after asset to come to terms with the bailout.

On Monday, the flailing insurer said it is moving closer to the initial public offering of AIU with the renaming of its property-casualty business to Chartis, a move used to distance AIU from its troubled parent.

--Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.