Insurer needs to repay state aid after 2008 bail-out

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ING is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for its European insurance arm for 2014, Reuters reports.

In 2008, the Dutch banking and insurance group was bailed out by the Dutch state and is looking to floatations and job losses to improve its capital position and repay state aid.

Last week, ING’s US insurance and investment divisions were floated in a $1.3bn (£840m) IPO.

ING chief executive Jan Hommen said: “With that milestone completed, we are now accelerating preparations for the base case of an IPO of our European insurance company, with the aim of being ready to go to the market in 2014”.

The group reported European and Asian operating profits of €79m (£67m) for the first three months of 2013, a fall of 39% on the same period last year (Q1 2012: €129m).

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