ING Sells U.S. Property and Casualty Operations

ING Group has agreed to sell The Netherlands Insurance Group of Companies, ING's U.S. property and casualty operation, to Guardian Royal Exchange PLC for US $1.15 billion.

At the same time, ING says it has agreed to purchase from GRE their Canadian property and casualty operation, which does business as Guardian Insurance Company of Canada. The price for the transaction is US $375 million, and is subject to regulatory and final ING Board approvals.

In April ING said that divestiture would result in an important strategic repositioning . Unlike in other countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Australia, ING did not have a significant market share in the US property and casualty market.

ING maintained that TNIC was a profitable regional carrier, but its long-term success required critical mass. They say GRE will bring TNIC the necessary scale to compete.

Leading TNIC brand companies are Peerless Insurance and Indiana Insurance. They sell personal and commercial lines of insurance in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. In 1997, TNIC had net premiums written of US $728 million.

In Canada, the acquisition of Guardian Insurance Company of Canada, which is consistent with ING's strategy of having a significant share of the market where it operates, would increase ING's Canadian property and casualty business by 50 % and strengthen ING's position as one of the leaders in the Canadian insurance industry.