Ageas announces today that, based on shareholder authorisation granted at the end of April 2012, it has decided to initiate a share buy-back programme of its outstanding common stock for a maximum amount of up to EUR 200 million.[1]
Recently Ageas and ABN AMRO reached a settlement, amongst others to compensate Ageas for the 106.7 million shares it issued in December 2010 for the conversion of the Mandatory Convertible Securities, which were recorded as a liability on ABN AMRO's balance sheet. At the time, ABN AMRO did not compensate Ageas for this share-issuance and Ageas's shareholders therefore suffered dilution. Now that an indemnity has been paid, Ageas has decided to launch a share buy-back programme of maximum EUR 200 million to mitigate this dilution.
Ageas will launch the share buy-back programme as of 13 August 2012 for a period ending on 19 February 2013 at the latest.
This programme will be implemented in accordance with industry best practices and in compliance with the applicable buy-back rules and regulations. To this end, Ageas has mandated an independent broker to execute the programme through open market purchases on its behalf on NYSE Euronext Brussels.
The bought back shares will be held as treasury shares until such time a decision to cancel these securities is formally approved by the shareholders.
After completion of the share buy-back programme and assuming all other elements remain constant, the net cash position will amount to EUR 1.3 billion. The share buy-back will not affect the solvency position of the insurance operations for which Ageas reported a ratio of 211% under IFRS at 30 June 2012.
Ageas will keep the market fully informed of the progress of this transaction in line with applicable regulations.
Bart De Smet, CEO of Ageas, said: " In light of the recently agreed settlement with ABN AMRO and taking into account our strong liquidity position and the strong solvency position of the insurance operations, this is an opportune moment to implement a share buy-back. At the same time we maintain our flexibility to invest in the continued growth of our insurance business."
Ageas is an international insurance company with a heritage spanning more than 180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurance companies in Europe, Ageas has chosen to concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the largest share of the global insurance market. These are grouped around four segments: Belgium, United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia and served through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors around the world. Ageas operates successful partnerships in Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand and has subsidiaries in France, Hong Kong and UK. It is the market leader in Belgium for individual life and employee benefits, as well as a leading non-life player, through AG Insurance, and in the UK, it has a strong presence as the fourth largest player in private car insurance and the over 50's market. It employs more than 13,000 people and has annual inflows of more than EUR 17 billion.
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[1] Currently, Ageas owns approximately 1.7% of its own shares (mainly shares related to the Floating Rate Equity-linked Subordinated Hybrids (FRESH)). The maximum buy-back of 10% of issued share capital authorized by the shareholders will not be exceeded.
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