ING Reduces Stake In NN Group To 16.2%

(RTTNews) - NN Group (NNGPF.PK) announces that ING Group has agreed to sell 33 million shares of NN Group at a price of 31.00 euros per share. The transaction reduces ING Group's stake in NN Group from 25.8% to 16.2% of outstanding shares (net of treasury shares). NN Group will not receive any proceeds from the offering.

As part of this transaction, NN Group repurchased 8 million ordinary shares from ING Group at 31.00 euros per share for a total amount of 250 million euros.

The gross proceeds to ING Group from the offering, including the repurchase by NN Group, amounted to 1 billion euros, ING said.

As a result of the transaction, ING loses significant influence on NN Group and will account for its remaining stake in NN Group as an available-for-sale investment going forward. The transactions are expected to result in a net profit to ING at closing of 0.5 billion euros. It broadly reflects the difference between the 2.2 billion euros book value of 25.8% investment in NN Group, which was fixed at deconsolidation at the end of May 2015, and the market value of this stake of approximately 2.7 euros billion.

NN Group said it will fund the share repurchase from the cash capital position at the holding company. The share repurchase is estimated to reduce NN Group's Solvency II ratio of 247% at 30 September 2015 to 242% on a pro-forma basis. NN Group intends to cancel all or part of the repurchased shares in due course.

As of the settlement of the transaction, the remaining shares in NN Group held by ING Group will be subject to a lock-up period of 60 days. The transaction is expected to settle on 8 January 2016.

ING has previously announced that it intends to divest its remaining stake in NN Group over time, in line with its strategy to divest all of its insurance and investment management businesses as part of the EC restructuring agreement ultimately by the end of 2016. In this context, ING Group sold shares of NN Group through an initial public offering in July 2014 and follow-on offerings in February 2015, May 2015 and September 2015.