WSJ: AIG May Sell Shares in Lloyd’s Unit Ascot to Canadian Pension Board

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American International Group Inc. is in early talks to sell its minority stake in the Lloyd’s of London syndicate manager Ascot Underwriting Holdings Ltd. to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the WSJ reported.

AIG and CPPIB declined to comment.

AIG, the largest commercial insurer in North America, has been cutting jobs and trying to restructure its business as part of a sweeping overhaul promised to shareholders to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn, who had urged the company to break into three.

The insurer said last week that it would sell its mortgage-guaranty unit, United Guaranty, to Arch Capital Group Ltd for about $3.4 billion.

The CPPIB, which manages Canada’s national pension fund, had said earlier this month that Britain’s decision to leave the European Union had curbed gains in its investments during the latest quarter would create more uncertainty down the line.

In 2014, CPPIB agreed to buy U.S. reinsurer Wilton Re Holdings Ltd for $1.8 billion from a group of private equity firms, marking its first move into the U.S. insurance business.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Savio D’Souza)