The American International Group is near a deal to sell its big aircraft leasing unit to a competing business, AerCap Holdings of the Netherlands, for about $5 billion in stock and cash, a person briefed on the matter said on Sunday.
A transaction could be announced as soon as Monday, this person added, cautioning that final details were still being negotiated and the talks could fall apart.
If a deal is reached, it would be the second in just over a year that A.I.G. has struck for its aircraft unit, the International Lease Finance Corporation. The business has long been regarded as one of the crown jewels in its empire.
But since the insurer’s taxpayer-financed bailout in 2008, the financial firm has sought to sell off nonessential operations to raise money. I.L.F.C., as the aircraft lessor is known, was long considered an attractive asset to sell, given both its size â€" it owned 913 planes as of Sept. 30 â€" and the capital requirements needed to support the business.
Under the current terms of the deal, AerCap is expected to pay about $3 billion in cash and issue roughly 96 million new shares. At Friday’s closing price, the stock component would be worth approximately $2.4 billion.
That would give A.I.G. a roughly 45 percent stake in AerCap, which the seller is expected to reduce over time.
The big stock component is likely necessary given that the prospective buyer is smaller than I.L.F.C. As of Friday, AerCap held a market value of $2.8 billion.
A.I.G. first agreed to sell I.L.F.C. to a group of Chinese investors last December. But the consortium has struggled to put together the necessary financing, missing a mandatory payment this spring.
While A.I.G. gave the group more time, the Chinese bidders lost exclusive bargaining rights for the aircraft leasing operation. this summer, freeing the insurer to pursue other potential buyers.
In recent months, A.I.G. turned to AerCap, a 18-year-old player in the business of leasing aircraft to airlines.
Terms of the potential deal were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
