Tokyo, Oct.4 (Reuters): American International Group (AIG) plans to sell its three Japanese life insurance businesses, an AIG spokesperson said today.

AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, said it would focus on its main insurance operations and put the rest of its businesses up for sale to repay up to $85 billion borrowed from the US government.

As part of such efforts, AIG intends to sell shares in American Life Insurance Co, AIG Star Life Insurance Co and AIG Edison Life Insurance Co, said Fumiyasu Sato, a Tokyo-based spokesperson for AIG.

Sato said AIG had no intention of selling its non-life insurance operations in Japan.

Japanese business daily Nikkei said the price for the sale could top 1 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) combined, and added that a number of Japanese and overseas insurance companies may be interested in acquiring the businesses. Domestic life insurers may form an alliance to make the purchase because of the size of the businesses, Nikkei said.

“It would be hard for a single domestic insurer to make the acquisition by itself,” Nikkei quoted a senior official at a major life insurance company as saying.

Sato said he had no information about potential buyers.