According to news, troubled US insurer AIG has bagged sanction for a Hong Kong share sale of its Asian unit, AIA, around 15 billion US dollars, in what could be the world’s second-biggest stock offering in 2010.

The news issued by the Dow Jones Newswires, the city’s stock exchange gave the offering a green signal with AIA likely to get listed on October 29.

The company, which owes billions of dollars in United States government bailouts, was forced to look again at the option of publicly floating AIA in Hong Kong after the collapse in the sixth month of this year of Prudential’s US$35.5 takeover bid.

The news from Dow Jones said, “The US insurer may sell off as much as half of its Asian unit with an investor road show to start on October 6 and the shares to be priced on October 21.”

However, a spokesperson from Hong Kong’s bourse refused to give any confirmation about the report.

AIA is also targeting to ink a deal next week with cornerstone investors, mainly institutional buyers, who could take as much as 1/5th of the offering.

The Financial Times said, “Chinese insurance companies and some of China's largest banks are said to be looking at both taking stakes and financing others.”