ING completes divestment programme with final sale of 45.7 million NN Group shares for EUR 1.4 billion

ING today announced the successful sale of its remaining ordinary shares of NN Group. The shares were sold at a price of EUR 30.15 per share. The gross proceeds to ING from the offering amount to approximately EUR 1.4 billion.

The divestment of NN Group is the final step of ING's programme to divest all of its insurance and investment management businesses as part of the restructuring agreement with the European Commission. To that effect, ING Group previously sold shares of NN Group through an initial public offering in July 2014 and follow-on offerings in February, May and September 2015 and January 2016. In the course of the divestment programme, ING also sold its Latin American insurance and investment management operations and its various insurance and investment management businesses in Asia Pacific. Voya Financial was brought to the US stock market in May 2013 and shares were subsequently sold to investors through a series of follow-on offerings.

"This marks the final step in ING's repositioning as a leading European bank," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. "This transaction completes our restructuring and the divestment of our insurance and investment management activities. ING was formed 25 years ago from the merger of NN Group's predecessor Nationale-Nederlanden and the former NMB Postbank to become one of the world's first bancassurance companies. Since then, our industry has changed dramatically. I am happy to see that all of the companies we have divested in the past years have found a solid future, continuing to serve their many millions of clients. I want to thank all our former colleagues, today especially those at NN Group, and wish them good luck."

The combined impact of this transaction, and the NN transactions announced on 5 and 28 January 2016, would bring the December 2015 pro-forma fully-loaded CET 1 ratio of ING Group to approximately 13.4%. The transaction will not affect the shareholders' equity or capital ratios of ING Bank

The transaction is expected to result in a net loss at settlement to ING Group of approximately EUR 0.1 billion to be booked in the second quarter of 2016. This amount reflects the difference between the market value of our 14.1% stake in NN Group at the day of the previous share sale on 5 January 2016 and the transaction price. After this transaction, ING Group will continue to hold warrants for approximately 35 million shares in NN Group at an exercise price of EUR 40.00 per share.

Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, ING Bank N.V., J.P. Morgan Securities PLC and UBS Limited acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners for the offering. Citi, Commerzbank, HSBC, KBC and Mediobanca acted as Joint Bookrunners.

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ING Profile

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 52,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.

ING Group shares are listed (in the form of depositary receipts) on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, ING.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's corporate strategy, which is evidenced by ING Group shares being included in the FTSE4Good index  and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe and World) where ING is among the leaders in the Banks industry group.