+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * | Proceeds on transaction of EUR 1.1 billion; |
| | estimated net profit of EUR 300 million |
|-------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
| * | Divestment is further step in Back to Basics |
| | programme to simplify the Group |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
ING announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell its life
insurance and wealth management venture in Australia and New Zealand
to ANZ, its joint venture partner. Under the terms of the agreement,
ING will sell its 51% equity stakes in ING Australia and ING New
Zealand to ANZ, who now will become the sole owner of these
businesses. ING will receive EUR 1.1 billion in cash from ANZ.
Jan Hommen, CEO of ING Group said: "This transaction is another
important step in executing our Back to Basics strategy. The sale of
our insurance and wealth management operations in Australia and New
Zealand is further proof of our determination to simplify the
organisation by focusing on fewer, strong franchises that form a
coherent group. This shows once more that our continued
transformation is well on track."
The transaction will generate an estimated net profit for ING of EUR
300 million. The cash proceeds and the estimated net profit will
improve the debt/equity ratio of ING Insurance by 345 basis points.
The transaction is expected to free up EUR 900 million of capital.
ING and ANZ merged their insurance and wealth management operations
in Australia and New Zealand in 2002. The operations now employ 2,200
staff in Australia and 500 in New Zealand, offering a comprehensive
range of wealth management and insurance products through ANZ bank
branches, financial advisers and directly via the internet. ING
Australia is the number two life insurer and has a top five position
in wealth management, while ING New Zealand has market leading
positions in retail fund management, life insurance and real estate.
Hans van der Noordaa, CEO Insurance Europe & Asia/Pacific, commented:
"ING Insurance continues to have a strong footprint in Asia in life
insurance and retirement services. One of the main objectives of the
newly appointed regional CEO of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific, Frank
Koster, will be to further develop and grow our Asian insurance
businesses, which are active in some of the most attractive growth
markets in the region."
ING remains active in Australia with ING Direct, ING Investment
Management, ING Wholesale Banking and ING Real Estate, who are not
impacted by this transaction. The deal is subject to regulatory
approvals and is expected to be booked and closed in Q4 2009.
Press enquiries
Carolien van der Giessen Karen Williams
ING Group ING Asia/Pacific
+31 20 541 6522 +852 9106 1350
Carolien.van.der.Giessen@ing.com Karen.Williams@ap.ing.com
ING Profile
ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering
banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over
85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than
40 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 110,000 people, ING
is dedicated to setting the standard in helping our clients manage
their financial future.
Important legal information
Certain of the statements contained herein are statements of future
expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations
are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results,
performance or events may differ materially from those in such
statements due to, among other things, (i) general economic
conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets,
(ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets,
(iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv)
mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels,
(vi) interest rate levels, (vii) currency exchange rates (viii)
general competitive factors, (ix) changes in laws and regulations,
(x) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory
authorities, (XI) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting
assumptions and methodologies, (XII) ING's ability to achieve
projected operational synergies. ING assumes no obligation to update
any forward-looking information contained in this document.
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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