Pru/AIA deal closer to regulatory thumbs-up

The UK's largest insurer faced a setback in its plan to buy AIA for $35.5bn (£24bn) last week when the FSA blocked its £21bn rights issue to part-fund the deal because of concerns over its capital base. But according to Reuters, citing sources close to the deal, UK regulators have given the go-ahead for the acquisition after the terms of the deal were amended and the insurer is now set to launch its rights issue within days. As part of the tweaked deal, AIA's US-government owned parent AIG has agreed to cut the $25bn cash component by $2bn with the final price remaining the same. I...