Aegon: share shines on merger plans

(CercleFinance.com) - Aegon shares jumped over 6% on Thursday in Amsterdam, following the Dutch insurance group's announcement of a plan to merge its Dutch activities with those of a.
s.r.

The deal, which aims to create a market leader in pensions, life and non-life insurance, would take the form of Aegon acquiring a 29.99% stake in a.s.r., along with a cash payment of 2.5 billion euros.

Out of this amount, the insurer says it wants to redistribute 1.5 billion euros to its shareholders, but also to reduce its debt by about 700 million euros.

Thanks to this transaction, Aegon explains that it wants to move away from its most "mature" activities to position itself on more promising segments in terms of growth.

Aegon says it aims to focus on international markets where it can create a comparative advantage.

At 12.30 pm, the stock was up 6.4%, by far the biggest winner in the AEX 25 index, bringing its market capitalisation to almost 10 billion euros.


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