Insurance: ING sells Aus/NZ units to JV partner ANZ
ING of the Netherlands continued its "Back to Basics" strategy with the announcement of the sale of its 51% interest in its life insurance and wealth management JV to partner ANZ for EUR1,100 million.
In a statement today, ING said "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 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.
Jan Hommen, CEO of ING Group said: “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."
ING remains active in Australia with ING Direct, ING Investment Management, ING Wholesale Banking and ING Real Estate, who are not affected by this transaction, says ING. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be booked and completed in Q4 2009.
In July, ING announced the sale of its non-core annuity and mortgage business in Chile to Corp Group Vida Chile S.A. on terms that were not disclosed. ING said that it would maintain a "strong presence" in Chile after the deal, expected to complete in Q4 this year.
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