AIG, Blackstone ink $2.2 billion deal for life and retirement unit Bloomberg Blackstone Group is acquiring a 9.9% equity stake in American International Group's Life & Retirement business for $2.2 billion in a multipronged all-cash transaction that includes the firm managing an initial $50 billion of the business unit's assets, said a joint news release issued Wednesday . In October, AIG announced a plan to spin off its Life & Retirement unit into an independent company. Under the terms of the transaction, Blackstone will begin managing the initial sum upon the transaction's closing, which is expected by the end of the third quarter. Over the next six years, the assets managed by Blackstone would increase to $92.5 billion.