AIG sale generates cash for payback

"This sale is an important step toward repaying the government," Harvey Golub, chairman of AIG's board of directors, said in a statement released Sunday.

Combined with the sale of American International Assurance to British Prudential for $35.5 billion last week, "we are on track to generate approximately $50.7 billion … consisting of $31.5 billion in cash to repay the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, plus another approximately $19.2 billion in securities that we will sell over time to repay the government," Golub said.

The two sales will leave AIG with about $50 billion still owed the government, which came to its rescue with $182 billion in loans and lines of credit, not all of which was used by the company, The New York Times reported Monday.

In a statement, Rodney Martin Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of American Life, said, "Our entire organization is excited about this transaction. MetLife is a well-respected, financially strong institution in which our customers, distributors, and employees can have confidence."

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