THE HAGUE, The Netherlands,
September 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/
--
Deal strengthens
Transamerica's retirement
platform and adds USD 71
billion in assets under
administration
Aegon, through an affiliate of its Transamerica unit, has
reached an agreement with Mercer HR Services, LLC to acquire
Mercer's US defined contribution administration book of business.
Upon completion of the acquisition, the defined contribution
business will transition to Transamerica Retirement Solutions,
which will become a top ten defined contribution record-keeper
based on plan participants and assets. Mercer is widely recognized
for its best-in-class solutions in the large corporate benefits
administration market. As such, the transaction complements
Transamerica's current retirement services offering, which has
experienced success and growth in the large and mega markets with a
primary focus in the not-for-profit segment.
"This agreement with Mercer further strengthens Transamerica's
leading position in the US retirement sector, with the know-how and
broad capability to serve every retirement plan market segment,"
said Mark Mullin, a member of
Aegon's Management Board and President & CEO of Transamerica.
"This latest strategic development supports our aim to further grow
and diversify our customer base, while continuing to expand our
offering of fee-based retirement solutions."
As a result of the acquisition, the number of retirement plan
participants serviced by Transamerica will increase by 917,000 to
approximately 5 million. Assets under administration (AUA) will
increase by USD 71 billion to
approximately USD 216 billion*.
In addition, Transamerica will become the preferred defined
contribution record-keeping provider for Mercer's total benefit
outsourcing and total retirement outsourcing clients going forward.
The added scale in participants and AUA, coupled with new business
opportunities and additional expertise in the large and mega
corporate market segment, collectively demonstrate the strategic
fit of this acquisition for Transamerica.
Additionally, this transaction provides Transamerica the
opportunity to further serve the growing market for seamless
Individual Retirement Account roll-over products and retirement
counselling services.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of
2015, subject to regulatory approval, and is not expected to have a
material positive effect on Aegon's earnings in 2016.
* as of August 31, 2015
About Aegon
Aegon's roots go back more than 150 years - to the first half of
the nineteenth century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an
international company, with businesses in more than 20 countries in
the Americas, Europe and
Asia. Today, Aegon is one of the
world's leading financial services organizations, providing life
insurance, pensions and asset management, with some 28,000
employees. Aegon's purpose is to help people take responsibility
for their financial future. Per June 30,
2015, Aegon managed EUR 645
billion in revenue generating investments.
http://www.aegon.com
About Transamerica
Transamerica is a member of the Aegon group of companies. With a
history that dates back over 100 years, the Transamerica companies
are recognized as leading providers of life insurance, savings and
retirement and investment solutions, serving millions of customers
throughout the United States.
Transamerica works to Transform Tomorrow® for those who entrust its
dedicated professionals with their financial needs, helping them
take the necessary steps to achieve their long-term goals and
aspirations. Transamerica's 10,000 employees serve nearly every
customer segment, providing a broad range of quality life insurance
and savings products, individual and group pension plans, as well
as asset management services. Transamerica's corporate headquarters
are based in Baltimore, Maryland.
http://www.transamerica.com
DISCLAIMERS
Forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this document that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the
US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following
are words that identify such forward-looking statements: aim,
believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate,
predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast,
goal, should, would, is confident, will, and similar expressions as
they relate to Aegon. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that
are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time
of writing. Actual results may differ materially from expectations
conveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by
various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties
include but are not limited to the following:
- Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in
the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
- Changes in the performance of financial markets, including
emerging markets, such as with regard to:
- The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon's
fixed income investment portfolios;
- The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting
restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in
the value of equity and debt securities Aegon holds; and
- The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private
sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of
sovereign exposure that Aegon holds;
- Changes in the performance of Aegon's investment portfolio and
decline in ratings of Aegon's counterparties;
- Consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the
euro;
- The frequency and severity of insured loss events;
- Changes affecting longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence
and other factors that may impact the profitability of Aegon's
insurance products;
- Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting
risks may fail to meet their obligations;
- Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or
rapidly changing interest rate levels;
- Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the
EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
- Changes in the availability of, and costs associated with,
liquidity sources such as bank and capital markets funding, as well
as conditions in the credit markets in general such as changes in
borrower and counterparty creditworthiness;
- Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets;
- Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting
Aegon's operations, ability to hire and retain key personnel, the
products Aegon sells, and the attractiveness of certain products to
its consumers;
- Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the
jurisdictions in which Aegon operates;
- Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general
related to, among other things, the type of products also Aegon
sells, including legal, regulatory or commercial necessity to meet
changing customer expectations;
- Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics;
- Changes in the policies of central banks and/or
governments;
- Lowering of one or more of Aegon's debt ratings issued by
recognized rating organizations and the adverse impact such action
may have on Aegon's ability to raise capital and on its liquidity
and financial condition;
- Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings
of Aegon's insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such
action may have on the premium writings, policy retention,
profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
- The effect of the European Union's Solvency II requirements and
other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital
Aegon is required to maintain;
- Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay
significant damages or change the way Aegon does business;
- As Aegon's operations support complex transactions and are
highly dependent on the proper functioning of information
technology, a computer system failure or security breach may
disrupt Aegon's business, damage its reputation and adversely
affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash
flows;
- Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution
channels;
- Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect
profitability, the distribution cost of or demand for Aegon's
products;
- Changes in accounting regulations and policies or a change by
Aegon in applying such regulations and policies, voluntarily or
otherwise, may affect Aegon's reported results and shareholders'
equity;
- The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings,
product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon's
ability to integrate acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated
results and synergies from acquisitions;
- Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, could result
in material losses and significantly interrupt Aegon's business;
and
- Aegon's failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or
operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving and excess
capital and leverage ratio management initiatives.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting
Aegon are described in its filings with the Netherlands Authority
for the Financial Markets and the US Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the Annual Report. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as
required by any applicable law or regulation, Aegon expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained
herein to reflect any change in Aegon's expectations with regard
thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statement is based.
Aegon Media Relations
Debora de Laaf
+31(0)70-344-8730
gcc@aegon.com
Aegon Investor Relations
Willem van den Berg
+31(0)70-344-8405
ir@aegon.com
Transamerica Media Relations
Gregory W. Tucker
+1443-475-3017
Media.Relations@transamerica.com
PRN NLD
SOURCE Aegon N.V.