2012-10-11 00:13:15 -

·     ING expected to receive total cash consideration of approx. EUR 1.3
billion

·     Sale expected to deliver net transaction gain at closing of approx. EUR
780 million

·     Process to sell remaining Asian Insurance/Investment Management units on-
going



ING has reached an agreement with AIA Group Ltd. (AIA) on the sale of ING's
insurance operations in Malaysia, which include its life insurance business, its
market-leading employee benefits business and its 60-percent stake in ING Public
Takaful Ehsan Berhad. Under the terms agreed, ING is expected to receive a total
consideration of approximately EUR 1.3 billion.

The agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is part of the
previously announced intended divestment of ING's Asian insurance and investment
management businesses. The process for the remaining businesses is on-going.
Further announcements will be made if   and when appropriate.

"Today's announcement is the first major step in the divestment of our Asian
insurance and investment management businesses and  shows that ING continues to
make steady progress in the restructuring of our company," said Jan Hommen, CEO
of ING Group. "AIA is an established player in Asia, and the combination of our
strong insurance operations with their longstanding track record in Malaysia
will create a market leader well positioned to benefit from the growth
opportunities available in the country."

The proposed transaction values ING's Malaysian insurance operations at
16.9x 2011 earnings and 2.2x 1H2012 book value of approximately EUR 600 million,
both on an IFRS basis. Earnings until closing are to the benefit of AIA. At
closing, ING expects the sale to deliver a net gain of approximately EUR 780
million, subject to potential adjustments at closing, customary for this type of
transaction.

ING is a leading life insurer in Malaysia offering a complete suite of insurance
products, including life, general, employee benefits and Takaful. The latter is
offered through ING Public Takaful Ehsan Berhad, a joint venture with Public
Bank Berhad, Malaysia's third-largest bank, and Public Islamic Bank Berhad, one
of Malaysia's top 5 Islamic banks. ING's insurance businesses in Malaysia serve
more than 1.6 million customers through approximately 1,200 employees and
approximately 9,200 tied agents.

AIA is the largest independent publicly-listed pan-Asian Life insurance company.
It is active across 15 markets in Asia Pacific and has leading positions across
many of these markets. AIA has a longstanding presence in Malaysia, having first
established operations there in 1948.

ING Investment Management's funds management business in Malaysia is outside the
scope of this transaction. The transaction announced today does not impact ING's
Asian banking activities.

Subject to regulatory approvals in Malaysia and the Netherlands, the transaction
is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.



Press enquiries              Investor enquiries

Victorina de Boer            Investor Relations

+31 20 57 66373              +31 20 57 66369

Victorina.de.Boer@ing.com    Investor.Relations@ing.com









ING PROFILE

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin, offering banking,
investments, life insurance and retirement services to meet the needs of a broad
customer base. Going forward, we will concentrate on our position as an
international retail, direct and commercial bank, while creating an optimal base
for an independent future for our insurance and investment management operations



IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION

Certain of the statements contained in this document are not historical facts,
including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations
and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current
views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from
those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or
events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without
limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic
conditions in ING's core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial
markets, including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial)
break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of ING's restructuring plan to
separate banking and insurance operations, (5) changes in the availability of,
and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as
well as conditions in the credit markets generally, including changes in
borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (6) the frequency and severity of
insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and
trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest
rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in
investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general
competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the
policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with
regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in
ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss,
net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit-ratings,
(18) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other
risks and uncertainties detailed in the risk factors section contained in the
most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V.

Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the
date they are made, and, ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for
any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a
solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.







pdf version of press release: 
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