AIG Financial Products Corp. has completed the sale of its commodity index business to UBS Investment Bank, the unit of American International Group said Thursday.

Under the terms of the transaction, UBS paid US15 million upon closing, and it will make additional payments of up to US135 million over the following 18 months based on future earnings of the business. Approximately 13 employees involved with the commodity index business are also joining UBS as a result of the deal.

The AIG commodity index business, including AIG’s rights to the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index, is comprised of a product platform of commodity index swaps and funded notes based on the benchmark DJ-AIGCI. The indexes have been renamed Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes.

“This acquisition allows us to expand our leading equities business in commodities indexes by adding a highly regarded platform, which has considerable market traction, expertise, and critical mass,“ said Jason Barron, global head of equity derivatives. “The DJ-AIGCI is one of the most utilized indexes and is a strategic fit with our existing commodity index, the UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index. We are pleased to add a valuable product offering to our core capabilities. Our clients now have a wide variety of choices in accessing commodity indexes.”

“With this sale, AIG has realized value from the sale of a profitable business unit of AIGFP in connection with the ongoing unwind of AIG-FP’s businesses and portfolios,” said Gerry Pasciucco, AIG-FP chief operating officer.

IE