ING raises $2 billion in Voya exit, expects $317 million profit

(Bloomberg) — ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch bank, raised $2 billion exiting its stake in Voya Financial Inc., ending a U.S. insurance push that began four decades ago.

ING got $1.4 billion selling shares in an offering at $44.20, compared with Tuesday’s closing price of $44.08, the Amsterdam-based bank said Wednesday in a statement. Voya bought back an additional $600 million of stock at $44.12.

The bank has been narrowing its focus to comply with terms of a 2008 bailout. ING began its exit from New York-based Voya with a 2013 initial public offering and held five subsequent sales. The lender said it will record a profit of about 285 million euros ($317 million) on the latest sale.

The exit of the final 19 percent stake marks “the end of an era,” ING Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said in the statement. “It has been 40 years since we first entered the U.S. life insurancebusiness with the acquisition of a majority stake in Wisconsin National Life Insurance Co.”