Aligned with its plan to separate and divest the insurance and investment management businesses, ING Groep N.V. ING has been trimming down its ownership stake in several units. Advancing with the same, the Dutch bank yesterday announced the sale of its remaining 18.9% stake in Voya Financial, Inc. VOYA, which will mark its exit from the latter.
Agreement Details
After selling the shares of its former insurance unit throughout 2013 and 2014, ING Groep will now make a final sale of a total of 45.6 million shares. Out of this, $600 million worth of stock will be repurchased by Voya Financial and the rest will be sold in an underwritten public offering.
The price per share for Voya Financial as well as the underwriters will be same. The prior sale transactions related to Voya Financial’s stake resulted in receivables of over $6 billion for ING Groep.
Recovery Story
ING Groep was formed in 1991 from the merger of a Dutch retail bank and a Dutch insurance company. The Netherlands-based company was hit hard by the global recession and had to accept the government bailout of 10 billion euros to survive the crisis.
However, with rigorous restructuring and streamlining of operations, ING Groep was successful in turning the table around. Apart from Voya Financial, the bank also spun off its European insurance business. Moreover, the bank’s retail banking unit ING Direct was sold to Capital One Financial Corporation COF.
Shedding of various units helped ING Groep repay the Dutch State ahead of schedule. Moreover, the recent plan to pay its first dividend since the financial crisis of 2008 indicates the bank’s regained financial strength.
Several banks that were bailed out by the government in the wake of the global crisis made their way out by aggressive streamlining initiatives. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc RBS, the banking and insurance holding company largely owned by the U.K. government, followed a similar path.
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