ING U.S. Files for IPO

Dutch-based bank insurance giant ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING) has filed an amended Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of 64.2 million shares in an expected price range of $21 to $24. The U.S. arm of the company initially will be called ING U.S. Inc., but ING expects to rebrand the company as Voya Financial. The shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VOYA.

Of the shares on offer, 37.5 million will be sold by ING Insurance International B.V., and none of the proceeds from that sale will be available to ING U.S. The firm plans to raise approximately $600 million from the sale of the remaining 26.7 million shares, and notes in its filing that if the shares price above the expected range, ING U.S. will offer fewer shares and ING Insurance will offer more.

ING Insurance International's stake in the new company will be approximately 75%, and the firm plans to divest those remaining shares over time.

The IPO is being imposed on the company as a condition of a €10 billion bailout from the Dutch government in 2009. Once the IPO is completed, the parent company will once again be allowed to pay a dividend to stockholders.

ING U.S. will use the proceeds from the IPO to reduce the €7 billion or so of double-leveraged debt. In addition to the $600 million from the IPO, ING U.S. also expects to receive $1.4 billion in distributions from its principal subsidiaries and $1.8 billion from its Cayman Islands subsidiary to assist in ING's recapitalization. Another $1.5 billion in a letter of credit also will be cancelled.

The IPO is expected to be launched before the end of this year.

The amended S-1 filing is available here.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Banking & Finance, IPOs Tagged: ING