Weekend news roundup: Prudential mulls bid for AIG Asian assets, Germany set to bail out Greece

According to SKyNews, Britain’s largest insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU), which already has extensive Asian presence with operations in 12 countries in the region, is in talks with AIG (American International Group) (NYSE: AIG) over the purchase of its Asian unit for US$25 billion. Earlier this month, Prudential’s Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam told Bloomberg that the company was aiming to raise the proportion of new business it derives from Asia by 80% by 2015 from the current 50%.
Should Prudential complete the deal, insurance focused investor Resolutuion (LSE: RSL) is believe to make a bid for its UK business.
At the end of the last week, the Office of National Statistics revealed that business investment sharply declined in Q4, slipping 5.8% quarter on quarter and 24.1% year on year. The country’s GDP grew 0.3% during the period.
Next week might mark the end of the saga over Greece’s debt crisis as, according to a report in the Financial Times, Germany’s largest banks are looking to buy Greece’s bad debt under financial guarantees from Berlin.
Chief Executive of Deutsche Bank Josef Ackermann has already held talks in Athens with Greece’s Prime Minister George Papanderou over the structure of a possible bailout package from the European Union. Greece has tried to combat the debt crisis by implementing a so-called economic austerity package, which included freezing wages in the public service and upping the pension age, causing protests across the country. The measures are aimed at cutting the country’s budget deficit by 3% this year to meet the EU’s target.
Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s said they could soon cut Greece’s rating, while Fitch has already cut its debt to BBB+ in December.
Greece is expected to make a €5 billion cash call next week to help it refinance €8 billion that will be due in April and May.
Greece’s debt crisis has been weighing the euro down for weeks, bolstering the US dollar to pressure dollar-denominated commodities, including oil and gold.
In other news, the UK’s Conservative Party pledged to cut corporation taxes for large businesses to 25% from the current 28%, should it win the upcoming election. The tax on small companies would be reduced from 21% to 20%.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/13837/weekend-news-roundup-prudential-mulls-bid-for-aig-asian-assets-germany-set-to-bail-out-greece-13837.html