Dutch insurer ING has decided to offload all of its 54 million shares in Capital One Financial, a US based financial holding company, after disposing its US online banking unit earlier this year.
The deal will be carried out at current exchange rates through an underwritten public offering, ING said in a statement.
BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets will act as joint book-running managers for the offering, which is anticipated to close on 10 September 2012.
ING acquired the shares in February 2012, as part of the consideration for the sale of ING Direct USA to Capital One.
The transaction is expected to result in an after-tax gain for ING of approximately €300m, to be booked in the third quarter of 2012 and a capital release of €1bn.
The deal will boost capital position of ING Bank, with a positive impact on ING Bank's core Tier 1 ratio of approximately 35 basis points.
According to the terms of the deal, Eli Leenaars, who has served on Capital One's board of directors as ING's nominee since May 2012, will step down from his position on Capital One's board of directors effective upon the closing of the offering.
