Ameriprise among bidders for AIG B-Ds

Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. is among the four suitors expected to put in a bid for American International Group Inc.’s broker-dealer businesses by the end of the month, according to The Deal. The Minneapolis-based firm is the only broker-dealer that is in the running to buy AIG’s three broker-dealers, Atlanta-based FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates Inc. of New York and SagePoint Financial Inc. of Phoenix, sources told The Deal. The three other suitors are private equity firms: Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc. and Warburg Pincus LLC, both of New York, and GTCR Golder Rauner LLC of Chicago, according to the publication. AIG is selling its broker-dealers — which comprise some 6,000 advisers and $92 billion in assets — as a package deal. In August, Ameriprise bought H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. of Detroit for $315 million in cash. The purchase added more than 900 advisers to Ameriprise’s ranks. Ameriprise didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment. AIG spokesman Mark Herr declined to comment.