Malaysia's Khazanah launches up to $439m stake sale in AIA

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Malaysia's state investor Khazanah Nasional launched on Wednesday an offering up to US$360 million (S$439 million) of shares in AIA Group, IFR reported, citing a term sheet of the transaction.

Khazanah, through its Mount Swettenham Investments unit, is offering 92.35 million AIA shares in a range of HK$29.84 to HK$30.20 each, equivalent to a discount of up to 1.2 per cent to Wednesday's close, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication.

The selldown comes ahead of the expiration of a lockup on AIA shares by American International Group this week, when the US insurer will be free to sell a stake worth US$6.4 billion at current market prices.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch was hired as sole bookrunner on the AIA stake sale.