UK's Prudential confirms to buy AIG Asia for $35.5 bn
LONDON: Britain's Prudential said it would buy AIG's Asian life insurance arm for $35.5 bn, in a deal set to make the insurer the undisputed leader Where has US bailout money gone?More on Financial crisisWhy currency keeps fluctuatingin one of the world's fastest-growing financial services markets. The acquisition will be financed in part by a $20 billion equity capital raising, one of the biggest cash calls ever, and by a $5 billion debt issue, Prudential said on Monday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Investors and analysts said they needed to know more about the finances of the AIG's Asian unit, AIA, before they could judge whether the deal could justify a capital-raising on that scale.