AIG To Sell New York HQ, Stake in Reinsurer

American International Group Inc. continues to divest assets. Bloomberg News reports today that the troubled insurer agreed to sell its New York headquarters and an adjacent building to South Korea-based Kumho Investment Bank, and Manhattan-based developer Youngwoo & Associates.

A contract was signed last week, according to a statement yesterday from CB Richard Ellis Group, the broker that represented AIG. The price wasn't disclosed. The properties, which have a total of 1.4 million square feet, are at 70 Pine St. and 72 Wall St.

"The investment is based on our optimistic view on the future of Wall Street, New York City, and the U.S. financial services industry," Y.C. Kim, a Kumho director, said in the statement.

The insurer previously agreed to sell its Japanese headquarters to Nippon Life Insurance Co. for $1.2 billion. AIG also last week sold a 235,000-square-foot office building in Ridgefield Park, N.J.

Youngwoo says it plans to partially convert the properties to condominiums.

Last week, AIG also was reported by Crain Communications to be looking to sell its stake in Transatlantic Holdings Inc. through a public stock offering.

AIG owns 59% of the New York-based reinsurer, and announced last week that it plans to sell about two-thirds of its stake through a secondary offering.

A preliminary prospectus agreement filed by Transatlantic with the SEC calls for the sale of 26 million AIG-owned shares. Underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 15% of the offered amount, AIG said in a statement.

After the offering, AIG and its subsidiaries will own about 19.7% of the outstanding Transatlantic shares, or 13.9% if underwriters fully exercise their option.