American International Group Inc. has completed the sale of aircraft leasing company International Lease Finance Corp. to AerCap Holdings N.V. in a cash and stock deal worth about $7.6 billion, AIG announced Wednesday.

The transaction marks the last major move in AIG's disposition of non-core assets.

Under the terms of the deal, AIG will receive $3.0 billion in cash and 97,560,976 newly issued Amsterdam, Netherlands-based AerCap common shares. Based on AerCap's closing per share price of $47.01 on May 13, the deal is worth about $7.6 billion, AIG said in a statement announcing the close of the transaction. AIG will have an approximately 46% stake in AerCap.

“We are very pleased to have closed on the sale of ILFC,” said AIG Chairman, President and CEO Robert H. Benmosche in the statement.

“The aircraft leasing business is not core to our insurance operations, and for this reason we agreed to sell ILFC. I am confident that this sale will have a positive impact on AIG's liquidity and credit profile, and will enable us to continue to focus on maintaining strong growth and profitability in our insurance operating businesses.”

In connection with the transaction, David L. Herzog, AIG Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Benmosche have joined AerCap's board of directors.

An industry observer welcomed the move.

“With this sale, AIG has completed its exit from the last of its non-core operations,” said Gloria Vogel, New York-based senior vice president of Philadelphia-based Drexel Hamilton L.L.C., in an analysis issued Thursday. “The deal is positive for AIG's liquidity and credit profile, and it eliminates the earnings volatility created by the aircraft leasing unit, which cost the firm about $5 billion in write-downs over the past three years. AerCap is a global leader in the aircraft leasing industry, and this deal should position the combined firm for continued market leadership, with future potential benefits to AIG as a stakeholder.”

AIG began divesting its noncore business shortly after it received more than $180 billion in federal assistance in 2008 after it approached collapse. In addition, to ILFC, AIG has sold among other things, HSB Group Inc., the parent of Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co.; 21st Century Insurance Group, its personal lines automobile insurance business; American Life Insurance co.; and its Japanese life insurance subsidiaries.