Last checked at 24 Nov 2011 07:00
AEGON completes sale of Guardian in the UK
AEGON completed the sale of its UK-based Guardian life and pension business fora total cash consideration of GBP 275 million to Cinven, a European privateequity group. Guardian, which manages over 300,000 life insurance policies inthe United Kingdom, has been closed to acquiring new business since 2001.
AEGON Asset Management has entered into a long-term agreement with Cinven and will continue to manage the assets of Guardian which total GBP 7.4 billion.
The decision to divest Guardian is consistent with AEGON's strategic objectiveto optimize its portfolio of businesses. The agreement was first announced
inAugust 2011. Page 1 of 2 Contact information
Media relations:Greg Tucker, +31(0)70 344 8956, gcc-ir@aegon.com
Investor relations: Willem van den Berg,+31 (0)70 344 8305, 877 548 9668 - toll free USA only, ir@aegon.com
www.aegon.com
About AEGON
As an international life insurance, pension and asset management company based in The Hague, AEGON has businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON companies employ approximately 26,000 people and have some 40 million customers across the globe.
Key figures - EUR Third quarter Full year 2010 2011 Underlying earnings 361 million 1.8 billionbefore tax New life sales 405 million 2.1 billion Gross deposits 10.5 billion 33 billion Revenue-generating 404 billion 413 billioninvestments (end of period) Forward-looking statementsThe statements contained in this document that are not historical facts areforward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-lookingstatements: aim, believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate,predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast, goal, should,would, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to ourcompany. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involverisks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Weundertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-lookingstatements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on theseforward-looking statements, which merely reflect company expectations at thetime of writing. Actual results may differ materially from expectationsconveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risksand uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited tothe following:
* changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; * changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to: - the frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income investment portfolios; and
- the effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the
financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt
securities we hold; * the frequency and severity of insured loss events;
* changes affecting mortality, morbidity, persistence and other factors that
may impact the profitability of our insurance products;
* changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly
changing interest rate levels; changes affecting currency exchange rates,
in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
* changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, liquidity
sources such as bank and capital markets funding, as well as conditions in
the credit markets in general
* increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and emerging markets; * changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting our operations, the products we sell, and the attractiveness of certain products to our consumers;
* regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions
in which we operate; * acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; * changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments; * lowering of one or more of our debt ratings issued by recognized rating
organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on our ability to
raise capital and on our liquidity and financial condition;
* lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of our
insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the
premium writings, policy retention, profitability of its insurance subsidiaries and liquidity; * the effect of the European Union's Solvency II requirements and other
regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital we are required to
maintain;
* litigation or regulatory action that could require us to pay significant
damages or change the way we do business; * customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
* competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect the distribution
cost of or demand for our products; * the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including our ability to integrate acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and synergies from acquisitions; * our failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the company aredescribed in the company's filings with Euronext Amsterdam and the USSecurities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F.These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document.Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the company expresslydisclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates orrevisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect anychange in the company's expectations with regard thereto or any change inevents, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
NOVEMBER 24, 2011
Press release
XNYS