RRJ ups stake in ING's US insurance business - report

According to Reuters, RRJ acquired the addtional stake in ING US from its Dutch parent on Thursday last week, paying $29.50 a share. RRJ now owns 4.4% of the unit, making it the second-biggest shareholder, while the parent company has cut its stake to 57%.

The Hong Kong-based firm - set up by former Hopu investment management executive Richard Ong - first invested $78 million in ING US in May during the firm's $1.3 billion IPO, paying $19.50 per share. The investment came via RRJ's Capital Master Fund II, a $3.5 million vehicle that reached a final close in March.

Amsterdam-headquartered ING has been shedding assets globally as part of the conditions tied to a EUR10 billion ($13.8 million) state bailout agreement from 2008. This includes selling more than 50% of its Asian operations by the end of this year.

In August, North Asian buyout firm MBK Partners agreed to acquire the group's South Korean life insurance division for approximately KRW1.84 trillion ($1.65 billion).

Ong established RRJ in 2011 and was later joined by his brother Charles - a former senior managing director at Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings - who is now co-CEO and chairman of the firm.

This is RRJ's third deal in the last month. It previously agreed to invest $50 million in Shanghai-headquartered real estate developer CIFI Holdings via a new share subscription and joined China Investment Corporation and CCBI International in acquiring S$260.2 million ($209 million) of new shares issued by Singapore-listed Chinese water treatment firm SIIC Environment.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Europe
• North America
• Financials
• Hong Kong (China)
• Financial Services
• RRJ Capital
• USA