Despite the undertones that the American International Group Inc (AIG) is negotiating a sales deal with MetLife Inc, for its large life insurance unit - American Life Insurance Company, or Alico – the company said on Wednesday that it intends going forth with the proposal of spinning off Alico, take it public, and seek its stock market listing in New York.

The process of splitting Alico off into a new holding company was initiated by AIG last month. An initial public offering (IPO) for Alico will pave the way for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – which partly owns Alico, after it took a stake in the company in return for reducing AIG's $26 billion indebtedness to the bank, following a massive bailout - to take a $9 billion preferred stake.

With operations spread out in 50 countries, including Europe and Japan, an Alico IPO would imply that the company would require a separate board and management team from its giant insurance parent company. 

Refraining from commenting on the recent resumption of talks between AIG and MetLife, Edward Liddy, the AIG Chairman and CEO, said in a press release: “We continue to consider all strategic options through a robust, structured and disciplined process.” Liddy added that “at this stage, we expect that a public offering for Alico will be beneficial.”