(Bloomberg) — ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial services company, plans to sell shares of its European insurance unit in an initial public offering as early as July.

"If markets hold up as they currently look, there are not that many issues in the way of coming somewhere after the next two, three weeks," ING Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers told reporters on a conference call today. "The moment the prospectus will come out, we will also give more information on offer size and price range."

His comments represent the first firm indication of the timing of ING's bid to cut its stake by more than 50 percent before the end of 2015. The company, based in Amsterdam, may sell the remaining shares before December 2016, according to an ING statement today.

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