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Exhibit 99
ReliaStar Media contact: Arlene Wheaton For immediate release:
(612) 372-5784 ---------------------
ReliaStar Investor contact: Karin E. Glasgow July 27, 2000
(612) 342-3979
RELIASTAR SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE ING ACQUISITION OF COMPANY
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MINNEAPOLIS - ReliaStar Financial Corp. (NYSE: RLR) announced that
ReliaStar shareholders voted to approve the proposed acquisition of ReliaStar
Financial and its family of companies by ING Groep N.V., a global integrated
financial services company based in Amsterdam.
As announced May 1 and pending regulatory approvals, ING Groep N.V. will
acquire ReliaStar for a total purchase price of $5.1 billion plus the assumption
of $1 billion in debt. All ReliaStar shareholders, other than ReliaStar's ESOP
(Employee Stock Ownership Program), will receive $54 in cash. Shares held by
ReliaStar's ESOP will be exchanged for ING ADRs (American Depository Receipts)
with a value of $54. The transaction is expected to close in early September
following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.
"We're extremely pleased to have found a partner that will deliver maximum
value for our shareholders and at the same time maximize the growth
opportunities for our businesses, our distributors and our employees," said John
G. Turner, ReliaStar chairman and chief executive officer. "This combination
with ING, a global financial services leader with a growing presence in the
United States, will give ReliaStar businesses the scale to compete along with a
broader portfolio of products."
ING Groep is active in banking, insurance and asset management in more than
60 countries and has nearly 90,000 employees. ING provides a full range of
integrated financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients
through a variety of distribution channels. ING Groep is Europe's fifth largest
financial institution in terms of market capitalization. ING's U.S. operations
are based in Atlanta.
-more-
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SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE ING ACQUISITION OF RELIASTAR, PG. 2 0F 2
ReliaStar Financial Corp. is a Minneapolis-based holding company whose
subsidiaries offer individuals and institutions life insurance and annuities,
employee benefits products and services, retirement plans, life and health
reinsurance, mutual funds, and bank and trust products. ReliaStar Financial, a
Fortune 500 company, is the eighth largest publicly held life insurance holding
company in the United States based on 1999 revenues, and has $38.4 billion in
assets under management and its subsidiaries have life insurance in force of
$369.4 billion.
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All statements in the report relative to markets for the Company's products and
trends in the Company's operations or financial results, as well as other
statements including words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," and other
similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual events to be materially different from those contemplated by the
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things:
legislative or regulatory changes affecting financial institutions and the
acquisition of such companies, and events which would affect the company's
sales, profits, financial condition or prospects, including general economic
conditions and other factors, prevailing interest rate levels and stock market
performance, the market value of the Company's investments and the lapse rate
and profitability of the Company's policies; the Company's ability to achieve
anticipated levels of operating efficiencies; mortality and morbidity; changes
in federal income tax laws that may affect the relative tax advantages of some
of the Company's products; and regulatory changes or actions, including those
relating to regulation of financial services affecting bank sales and
underwriting of insurance products and regulation of the sale, underwriting and
pricing of insurance products.
