Fresh twist to Prudential saga sees former boss take reins at AIA

The former chief executive of the Prudential, Mark Tucker, is to be named as the new boss of AIA, the Asian insurer that is part of the American firm AIG.

The appointment is an unexpected twist in a long-running saga, in which the current management of the Prudential, led by Tidjane Thiam, were almost toppled in their failed attempt to take control of AIA.

Tucker, 53, helped build Prudential's Asian franchise in the 1990s and was chief executive of the company from early 2005 until September 2009. He had previously lived in Hong Kong, where AIA is based.

AIG is aiming to raise more than $20bn (pounds 13bn) by selling shares in AIA in a Hong Kong stock market flotation later this year, after the Prudential's $35.5bn bid for the business collapsed in spectacular style at the beginning of last month.

The aborted bid landed the company with a pounds 450m bill - equivalent to last year's dividend payments - and had irate investors calling for the head of Thiam and the chairman, Harvey McGrath. Tucker's name had been mentioned as a possible replacement at the helm of the Prudential.

AIG had been planning the initial public offering of its Asian division before Prudential expressed an interest in buying the business and has now revived the plan. The cash raised in the flotation will go toward repaying billions in taxpayers' funds after the insurer was bailed out by Washington during the financial crisis. It aims to raise $15bn from selling 40% of the company on the market plus between $5bn and $8bn from strategic investors.

Tucker replaces Mark Wilson, who has been chief executive of AIA since 2006.