Brought to you by:

Pru admits defeat

American International Group has become even larger – it’s already the world’s biggest insurer – with the completion of its bid to buy life insurer American General for about $46 billion.

The last-minute bid by AIG left British insurer Prudential out in the cold. American General had already agreed to Prudential’s takeover terms when AIG swooped. Prudential walked away with a cancellation fee of about $1.2 billion.