NEW YORK (Reuters) – MetLife Inc <MET.N> plans to pay American International Group Inc <AIG.N> in stock and cash for American Life Insurance Co (Alico), as the two sides negotiate what could be a roughly $15 billion deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

MetLife, the largest publicly traded U.S. life insurer, may pay roughly $8 billion of the purchase price in stock and the rest in cash, according to the source.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, Bank of America Corp <BAC.N>, Deutsche Bank AG <DBKGn.DE> and Credit Suisse Group AG <CSGN.VX> may give MetLife a $5 billion bridge loan for the deal, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

A deal could be struck as soon as February 11, Bloomberg said.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) – MetLife Inc <MET.N> plans to pay American International Group Inc <AIG.N> in stock and cash for American Life Insurance Co (Alico), as the two sides negotiate what could be a roughly $15 billion deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

MetLife, the largest publicly traded U.S. life insurer, may pay roughly $8 billion of the purchase price in stock and the rest in cash, according to the source.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, Bank of America Corp <BAC.N>, Deutsche Bank AG <DBKGn.DE> and Credit Suisse Group AG <CSGN.VX> may give MetLife a $5 billion bridge loan for the deal, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

A deal could be struck as soon as Feb. 11, Bloomberg said.

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Sandler O’Neill, which specializes in financial services, said on Monday that Fred White, who was a senior financial institutions deals lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has joined the investment bank.

White, 62, joined Sandler O’Neill as a managing director and will provide strategic advice to banks and thrifts in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and financings.

White, who was co-head of Skadden’s financial institutions M&A practice, advised on such transactions as Bear Stearns Cos Inc’s sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, Lone Star Funds’ purchase of CIT Group Inc’s <CIT.N> mortgage lending business and Refco Inc’s sale of its global futures brokerage business to Man Financial Inc.

At this point in the business cycle, banks and thrifts need to improve their capital structure, White said in an interview.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – American International Group Inc <AIG.N> on Monday named a KeyCorp <KEY.N> vice chairman and financial services veteran to a newly created post overseeing finance, risk and investments.

Peter Hancock, who will report to AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche, was named executive vice president. He will also oversee audit, strategic planning and the AIG Financial Products unit.

Hancock, 51, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> chief financial officer, brings risk management, finance and investment expertise to AIG and will play mentor and coach to other managers. He will help reduce risk at Financial Products while balancing it with the insurer’s ability to handle investments.

“I am very pleased that Peter, a recognized expert in risk and finance, will be joining AIG in this important new role,” Benmosche said in a statement. “Peter’s comprehensive experience in financial services will help accelerate our existing team’s efforts toward AIG’s re-emergence as a strong, independent company.”

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – American International Group Inc <AIG.N> on Monday named a KeyCorp <KEY.N> vice chairman and financial services veteran to a newly created post overseeing finance, risk and investments.

Peter Hancock, who will report to AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche, was named executive vice president. He will also oversee audit, strategic planning and the AIG Financial Products unit.

Hancock, 51, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> chief financial officer, brings risk management, finance and investment expertise to AIG and will play mentor and coach to other managers. He will help reduce risk at Financial Products while balancing it with the insurer’s ability to handle investments.

“I am very pleased that Peter, a recognized expert in risk and finance, will be joining AIG in this important new role,” Benmosche said in a statement. “Peter’s comprehensive experience in financial services will help accelerate our existing team’s efforts toward AIG’s re-emergence as a strong, independent company.”

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – American International Group Inc <AIG.N> is expected to hire Peter Hancock, a KeyCorp <KEY.N> vice chairman and financial services veteran, in a newly created role, overseeing finance, risk and investments, according to two sources close to the insurer.

AIG, which was propped up by a $182.3 billion U.S. taxpayer-funded aid package, could announce Hancock’s appointment as executive vice president as soon as Monday, one of the sources said.

Hancock, 51, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> chief financial officer, brings risk management, finance and investment expertise to AIG and will play mentor and coach to other managers, the second source who is a senior AIG executive said.

“The biggest issue we have right now at AIG is risk management and how that translates to our ability to handle our investments, simultaneously with how we manage the derisking of our Financial Products group,” the official said.

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – American International Group Inc <AIG.N> Chief Executive Robert Benmosche envisions a smaller company in the future, with global property-casualty and U.S. life and annuity operations at its core, according to his comments in an internal company publication.

AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, has to shrink because it must sell businesses to pay back the U.S. government as well as to become a more focused organization that is “not too big to fail,” Benmosche said in a recent interview with Contact, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

“As we think about AIG for the future, the most important thing is that we are a company that pays back our obligations,” Benmosche told the magazine. “And that we have survived the crisis. And that we are on our way to regaining our stature as the largest and most successful property-casualty operation in the world, with strong U.S. life and annuity companies, and several other businesses that enhance the nucleus.”

AIG declined to comment.

NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) – International Lease Finance Corp Chief Executive Steven Udvar-Hazy, who led an unsuccessful bid to buy part of the aircraft lessor’s fleet from American International Group Inc <AIG.N>, will retire on Friday.

Udvar-Hazy, who effectively invented the business of plane leasing when he founded ILFC, will retire as director and chief executive, the insurer said on Thursday. Udvar-Hazy could not be reached immediately for comment.

John Plueger, ILFC chief operating officer since 1995, will succeed Udvar-Hazy as acting CEO, the insurer said.

Udvar-Hazy’s exit comes after AIG tried for more than a year to sell ILFC as part of its efforts to repay the U.S. government, which had to prop up the insurer with $182.3 billion in taxpayer-funded aid after its near-collapse.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – AIG said on Tuesday current and former employees of its Financial Products unit had so far agreed to accept cuts totaling about $20 million in retention payments, short of a $26 million target.

Separately, the insurer, which was bailed out with a $182.3 billion U.S. aid package, also named Thomas Russo, a former top Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc lawyer, as its general counsel along with other appointments.

Russo fills the general counsel position that became vacant on December 30, when Anastasia Kelly resigned in protest over pay curbs imposed at the firm by U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

The cuts in retention payments to employees of the Financial Products unit come after pressure from Feinberg and a public outcry last March, when AIG paid $165 million to employees of the unit behind the insurer’s near collapse.

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) – AIG <AIG.N> said on Tuesday current and former employees of its Financial Products unit had so far agreed to accept cuts totaling about $20 million in retention payments, short of a $26 million target.

American International Group Inc, which was bailed out with a $182.3 billion U.S. aid package, said it had decided to begin making the reduced payments to current and former employees who had agreed to the cuts. An earlier payout was part of the proposals the company had made to the employees. [ID:nN25204953]

These payments would total $100 million, the Washington Post reported. Although the payout is part of a previously known $195 million award that was due to employees of the AIG Financial Products unit, the news drew a fresh round of criticism from some members of Congress.

“It’s not a question of whether or not the bonuses are justified, but rather if the Administration is being transparent with the American people about the nature and need of these bonus payments,” said Darrell Issa, a lawmaker who has spearheaded an investigation into the AIG bailout.