Kumho group plans to buy AIG building
Published: 12 Jun. 2009, 03:25
New York headquarters of troubled U.S. insurance giant AIG. [YONHAP]
American International Group has agreed to sell its 66-story headquarters and an adjacent building to the consortium led by Kumho Investment Bank, Kumho said in a statement.
Kumho said it signed a contract and made a down-payment on June 2 and the remainder of the purchase price would soon be paid. It refused to disclose the price or the other consortium members.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper estimated the price at between $400 million to $500 million compared with $800-900 million before the financial crisis.
“Wall Street is still the global financial hub and we’re optimistic about the U.S. financial industry,” Y.C. Kim, a Kumho director, said in the statement, adding he expects real estate prices in Wall Street to rebound.
AIG, which is trying to sell off assets to repay a massive U.S. government bailout, last month sold its headquarters in Tokyo to Japan’s largest insurer Nippon Life for $1.2 billion.
The U.S. government has pumped more than $170 billion into AIG to keep it afloat, making it the largest ever single recipient of federal bailout money so far.
In return the government has taken a stake of nearly 80 percent in what was once one of the world’s biggest insurers. AFP
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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