American International Group Inc. continues to cut itself down to size.

The company has agreed to sell a division to MetLife Inc. for $15.5 billion in its second divestiture of a non-U.S. life insurance unit this month, Bloomberg reported.

MetLife said today it will pay $6.8 billion in cash and $8.7 billion in equity securities for American Life Insurance Co. (Alico).

AIG announced on March 1 that it would sell AIA Group Ltd. to Prudential plc for $35.5 billion, including $25 billion in cash. Both the deals this month exceed the sum of more than 20 earlier asset sales announced by New York-based AIG since its September 2008 bailout by the federal government.

“AIG has pulled off two massive asset sales marking major milestones on its road to recovery,” said David Havens, managing director in credit trading at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “A year ago, AIG getting more than $50 billion for AIA and Alico, mostly in cash, seemed unthinkable.”

Alico operates in more than 50 countries including Japan and parts of Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. The acquisition will add 45 cents to 55 cents a share to MetLife’s 2011 operating earnings, the company said.

MetLife expects transition costs and other expenses related to the acquisition of 12 cents a share, which won’t be deducted from operating earnings, the insurer said. Post-tax integration expenses of $300 million to $350 million will be incurred over two and a half years, MetLife said. The Alico sale is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, AIG said.