PE Firms Are Finalists For AIG Advisor Group -Sources
July 29 2009 - 5:21PM
Dow Jones News
Two private-equity firms are finalists for American
International Group Inc.'s (AIG) AIG Advisor Group business,
according to people familiar with the bidding process.
A deal with one of the two firms, Lightyear Capital LLC and
Lovell Minnick Partners LLC, could be done within days, the people
said.
Lightyear is led by former Paine Webber Group Inc. Chairman and
Chief Executive Donald B. Marron, and Lovell is led by Putnam
Lovell Securities co-founder Jeffrey D. Lovell.
Both Lightyear and Lovell invest in financial services companies
exclusively and have invested in similar businesses before.
Amanda Kiely, a spokeswoman for Lightyear, said the company
wouldn't comment. A Lovell Minnick representative didn't
immediately return calls seeking comment, and an AIG spokeswoman
declined to comment.
Bidding for the AIG Advisor Group, which provides custodial
services to independent investment advisers, has been going on for
months, with several private equity and strategic bidders dropping
in and out. Private-equity firms Warburg Pincus LLC and Clayton
Dubilier & Rice Inc., along with Ameriprise Financial Inc.
(AMP), were among those interested.
The news was reported earlier by Investment News.
-By Joseph Checkler, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2152;
joseph.checkler@dowjones.com
(Brett Philbin contributed to this article.)