HONG KONG –  American International Group said it has commenced a sale in Hong Kong of up to all of its ordinary shares of AIA Group by means of a placing to certain institutional investors.

AIG expects to use the net proceeds from the AIA <1299.HK> sale for general corporate purposes. The company did not disclose the size of the sale or the buyers.

AIG has a 13.69 percent stake in AIA, valued at $5.9 billion. After selling $2.02 billion in AIA shares in September, AIG was barred from selling any further shares until December 10.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)