Aegon repays bailout in full
LIFE insurance group Aegon yesterday bought back the final tranche of its shares held by the Dutch government since its €3bn (£2.6bn) bailout, returning it to private hands after three years.
The life insurance and pensions giant repaid a total €1.13bn to the Dutch central bank, including the last €750m of its state aid in the form of convertible securities, and a €375bn premium charge.
Including interest and premium charges on the bailout amount, Aegon has paid back a total of €4.1bn. Repayment means it is now free to start paying dividends to its investors and plan new acquisitions.
Chief executive Alex Wynaendts said Aegon had “turned a decisive corner and is today a significantly transformed company.”
With the aid repaid, he said the company had “set our sights toward capturing the substantial opportunities for our core business of life insurance, pension and retirement services and asset management.”
The obligations of the bailout forced Aegon to change a lot of its internal processes and de-risk its structure. Over the past three years it has strengthened its balance sheet, “substantially reduced” its risk profile and divested or put into run-off underperforming or risky businesses.
Wynaendts said Aegon was grateful for the Dutch state support “during the period of extreme economic turmoil and uncertainty” it experienced.
The company had been buying back the government-owned securities since November 2009.