Bank IPO Kicks Off Below Expected Range

ING U.S. Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) held its initial public offering (IPO) today and the U.S. insurance arm of Dutch-based ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING) raised $1.27 billion at an IPO price of $19.50 a share for 65.2 million shares issued. That is the second-largest IPO in the United States so far this year, but it is a disappointment for ING, which had hoped to sell the shares in a range of $21 to $24. The company will rebrand itself as Voya Financial.

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

ING U.S. will use net proceeds of about $568 million from the IPO to reduce the €7 billion or so of double-leveraged debt and to repay the remaining €2.2 billion loan from the Dutch government.

Shares are trading up about 0.5% at $19.55 after the first half-hour of trading today.

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