Reports: AXA, MetLife Vie For ALICO

By Jim Connolly

February 24, 2009 at 07:00 PM

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American International Group Inc. may be getting serious offers for its American Life Insurance Company unit.

AXA S.A., Paris, and MetLife Inc., New York, have shown an interest in acquiring ALICO, a subsidiary of AIG, New York, that is domiciled in Delaware, according to Bloomberg.

Representatives for AXA and MetLife declined to comment.

Representatives from AIG were not immediately available to discuss the report.

ALICO reported $737 million in net income in 2007 on about $33 billion in net premiums written, according to Highline Data, a unit of Summit Business Media L.L.C., New York.

ProPublica, New York, reported last week that a July 2004 Internal Revenue Service ruling could affect the deal.

In the ruling, the IRS held that nonresident aliens receiving payments from contracts such as annuities issued by a U.S. life insurer are subject to 30% tax withholding.

ALICO says it is not subject to the ruling because it gets more than 80% of its revenue from overseas and is a kind of company not specifically mentioned in the IRS ruling, according to ProPublica.

AIG says the ruling is not material to ALICO and that it has approached the IRS to affirm its position on the issue.

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