AIG makes another important assignment. Delayed several weeks due to fiscal problems, the giant American Insurance American International Group and MetLife onday announces an agreement under which AIG will sell its branch at MetLife Life Insurance Alico for the equivalent of 15.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition will be for $ 6.8 billion in cash and approximately 8.7 billion shares in MetLife.
Alico, and the Asian subsidiary of Life Insurance American International Assurance (AIA), had enjoyed a special status, allowing AIG to make these two assets as compensation and thus reduce the debt of the insurer to the Reserve U.S. Federal (Fed), although both companies are still controlled by AIG. This also allowed AIG to prepare these two subsidiaries for sale or an IPO.
At the edge of the termination payment in mid-September 2008, AIG was bailed out by the U.S. government who had to inject over 180 billion dollars in its coffers to keep the group afloat, the government now owns 80%.
AIG will make 32 billion dollars by the Fed
MetLife believes that the acquisition would boost earnings by 45 cents to 55 cents per share by 2011.Analysts expect 2011 operating earnings per share of 4.89 dollars.
With the sale of Alico, and after the agreement last week to sell its Asian branch of life insurance, American International Assurance, for 35.5 billion dollars to the group Prudential, AIG could make the Fed's New York 32 billion in cash in the coming months, if both operations are looped as expected by the end of 2010, says the WSJ.
AIG should also repay 19 billion dollars more in coming years, when he sold his shares in MetLife and Prudential.
Carrefour could engage in home delivery in France in order to cope with declining attendance in its hypermarkets. According to The Independent, the French giant is in talks with UK online retailer OCADO to create a joint venture based on technology automated OCADO. It would be especially interested in their software on order entry and online organizing deliveries. OCADO who wishes to enter the stock market next year, book products supermarket High-end British Waitrose.
Deliveries should start first in Paris before spreading to the rest of French territory. The newspaper also reported that neither OCADO Carrefour did not want comment. Carrefour in the third quarter, down 8% of its turnover number of store.
A new tool to better meet in the jungle of tariffs. The National Ombudsman of Energy on Thursday launched a comparator offers, available on-site www.energie mediateur.fr. Totally independent providers, the service proposes to compare the various offers of electricity and natural gas, according to several criteria: annual price, type of proposed tariff (set by the state or not) or the share of renewable energy included in the tender. And the service is not superfluous. Two years after opening to competition of the energy market, the French are still struggling to find their way. Almost two thirds (58%), unaware that they can indeed leave EDF and GDF Suez, according to an LH2 poll, conducted for the Ombudsman and the Commission for Energy Regulation (CRE). And they are 77% did not know how to switch suppliers.
13,000 claims in 2009
In addition, the mediator of energy is overwhelmed by the claims: 13,000 in 2009, a tenfold increase over 2008! Rates opaque, or billing errors in the meter are the problems most often encountered by consumers. Hence the interest to compare this development which was attended by most energy suppliers at the national level: besides the two heavyweights EDF and GDF Suez, six other energy providers nationally have said yes to proposed: Direct Energy, Planet Yes, Poweo, Alterna, GEG Source of Energy and Altergaz. Only Enercoop declined the offer, saying that this tool does not put enough value in the specificity of its offer, according to the Ombudsman's services.
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