The sale of AIG's main Asian life-insurance unit to Prudential may have suffered a deadly blow, potentially putting Prudential's CEO on the chopping block, according to The Wall Street Journal.
AIG rejected a $30.4 billion bid from Prudential for AIA, and said that it would not consider any renegotiation of the deal, for which it wants $35.5 billion.
Prudential's CEO, Tidjane Thiam, may be in the hot seat if the deal falls through, having come under fire for attempting such a large deal so early on in his tenure. He has also been criticized for not having prepared Prudential's shareholders, which include BlackRock and Fidelity, who made it clear that they would not approve the takeover on its current terms because of the high price tag.
There is a possibility that Prudential could nix the deal later today. If that happens, it will have to pay out approximately $220 million in breakup fees to AIG.
Other casualties could include Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and HSBC, who had all lined up to advise Prudential on the deal and were expecting hefty fees if it had gone through.