MetLife Said to Weigh $8B in Stock For AIG's Alico

MetLife Inc. plans to use stock to pay for more than half of the planned $15 billion purchase of American International Group Inc. life insurance unit Alico, Bloomberg News reports Tuesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

MetLife would pay AIG about $8 billion in stock and the rest in cash for Alico, or American Life Insurance Co., the sources said. Some of the cash may come from a $5 billion bridge loan from banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. , Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, and Credit Suisse Group AG.

The planned price for Alico exceeds the sum of more than 20 earlier asset sales announced by New York-based AIG since its 2008 bailout by the U.S. government.

MetLife shares were up $1.65, or 4.9%, to $35.29 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. AIG was up $1, or 4.5%, to $23.16.

Spokesmen for AIG and MetLife declined to comment, Bloomberg reported. Representatives of Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank didn't immediately return calls seeking comment, while a Bank of America spokesman had no immediate comment, and a JPMorgan Chase spokesman declined to comment.

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