ING Sells Off Australian P-C Assets To QBE
NU Online News Service, May 17, 8:52 a.m. EDT?Amsterdam-based ING Groep N.V. is selling its stake in two insurance businesses to its Australian venture partner QBE Insurance Group Ltd. for $528.5 million. [@@]
ING said it was selling off its interest in a property-casualty unit and a workers' compensation business in an effort to focus its energies on its life insurance and other financial-services businesses. ING has a 30 percent stake in QBE's comp business.
ING and QBE had first set up their joint venture, QBE Mercantile Mutual, in 1999. The unit writes commercial and personal p-c insurance. According to Sydney, Australia-based QBE, the deal is expected to add some $449.1 million in gross written premiums to QBE's insurance business.
This week, ING Groep also reported healthy first-quarter earnings, posting a sevenfold rise in its quarterly income to around $1.42 billion, as the stock market recovery bolstered the company's investments and the financial banking unit reported record earnings.
ING Groep's business operations are focused on North America, Asia-Pacific and the Netherlands as well as major European markets. Major product lines include life insurance; consumer banking and mortgage lending; and asset management, which offers products geared to individual and institutional investors. Last year, ING posted $5.08 billion in annual net income.
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