AIG Talks Again to MetLife Over Unit: Reports

Embattled insurer

American International Group

(AIG) - Get Report

is in discussions again with

MetLife

(MET) - Get Report

about a deal for all or part of AIG's foreign life-insurance unit American Life Insurance, reports say.

The two companies held talks about a deal several months ago, but a deal wasn't reached, the

Wall Street Journal

reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks over Alico, which operates in more than 50 countries outside the U.S., are preliminary and might not end in an agreement as happened earlier this year when the two sides squabbled over price, the

Financial Times

reports. Alico's largest operations are in Japan.

Before the talks broke off in March, MetLife was believed to have tabled an offer of about $11 billion for Alico, with AIG expecting roughly $20 billion, the

Financial Times

notes.

AIG is in the process of spinning off the unit into a separate entity, but is open to offers for Alico partly because it was coming under increasing pressure from the U.S. government to speed up the disposal of assets, the newspaper reports.

AIG must repay the U.S. the $80 billion it received in September after being rescued from potential bankruptcy.

The

Financial Times

says a sale of Alico could help AIG raise more than $15 billion.

Firms that were once interested in Alico, such as

Prudential

(PUK) - Get Report

of the U.K., France's

Axa

, and

China Investment Corp.

, are no longer interested, the

Financial Times

reports.