AEGON to Launch Equity Issue of up to EUR 1 Billion
August 13 2009 - 1:31AM
PR Newswire (US)
Intention to Repay EUR 1 Billion Core Capital Obtained From Dutch
State by December 1, 2009 THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, August 13
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AEGON aims to raise up to EUR 1 billion
through an equity issue via an accelerated bookbuild beginning
today. AEGON intends to use the proceeds of the equity issue to
repay up to EUR 1 billion of the total EUR 3 billion of core
capital obtained last year from its largest shareholder, Vereniging
AEGON, funded by the Dutch State. The decision to repay by December
1, 2009, is conditional on AEGON's capital position and the outlook
for the economy and financial markets not deteriorating materially.
The repayment further requires the formal consent of the Dutch
Central Bank (DNB). AEGON would effect the repayment by exercising
its option to repurchase up to 250 million convertible core capital
securities (CCCS) by December 1, 2009 at a price between EUR 4.00
and EUR 4.52 per security depending on both the share price and
timing of repurchase. Repurchasing by December 1, 2009 would permit
AEGON to avoid having to pay EUR 6.00 per security after December
1, 2009. In addition AEGON would not be required to pay future
coupons of at least 8.5% per annum on the repurchased amount. In
order to raise EUR 1 billion, AEGON will use the authorization of
the annual shareholders' meeting to issue new shares up to 10% of
the issued common share capital and will issue such number of
treasury shares as necessary. Accelerated book building for the
equity issue will begin today. Vereniging AEGON is not expected to
take part in the offering. Vereniging AEGON is expected, however,
to exercise the option to purchase additional class B preferred
shares to preserve its share of voting rights. "It has been our
intention to repay the EUR 3 billion to the Dutch government at the
earliest opportunity, provided it is both feasible and responsible
to do so," said AEGON CEO Alex Wynaendts. "Our decision to issue
equity in the amount of up to EUR 1 billion is the first step
towards the goal of full repayment. AEGON's current excess capital
position of EUR 3.5 billion gives us the flexibility to deploy
capital in the business and puts us in a better position to work
towards the goal of full repayment of the outstanding capital
within the terms of our agreement with the Dutch State." J.P.
Morgan will be acting as Sole Global Coordinator and Joint
Bookrunner for the offering. ABN AMRO and BofA Merrill Lynch will
also act as Joint Bookrunners. A prospectus for the offering may be
obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., 125 London Wall, London
EC2Y 5AJ, United Kingdom. Forward-looking statements The statements
contained in this press release 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 our
company. These statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult
to predict. In particular, there is no guarantee that we will
actually use the proceeds from the offering to repurchase any of
our convertible core capital securities. We undertake 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 our fixed income investment portfolios; and
- 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 we hold; - The frequency
and severity of insured loss events; - Changes affecting mortality,
morbidity and other factors that may impact the profitability of
our insurance products; - 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; - Increasing levels of
competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom and emerging markets; - Changes in laws and regulations,
particularly those affecting our operations, the products we sell,
and the attractiveness of certain products to our consumers; -
Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the
jurisdictions in which we operate; - Acts of God, acts of
terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; - Effects of deliberations of
the European Commission regarding the aid we received from the
Dutch State in December 2008; - Decisions taken by the Dutch
Central Bank (DNB) regarding our ability to repay the convertible
core capital securities we issued in December 2008; - Changes in
the policies of central banks and/or governments; - Litigation or
regulatory action that could require us to pay significant damages
or change the way we do business; - Customer responsiveness to both
new products and distribution channels; - Competitive, legal,
regulatory, or tax changes that affect the distribution cost of or
demand for our products; - Our failure to achieve anticipated
levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other
cost saving initiatives; and - The impact our adoption of the
International Financial Reporting Standards may have on our
reported financial results and financial condition. Further details
of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the company are
described in the company's filings with Euronext Amsterdam and the
US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report
on Form 20-F, as well as the prospectus supplement and accompanying
prospectus for this offering. These forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by
any applicable law or regulation, the company 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 the company's expectations with regard
thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statement is based. AEGON Group Corporate
Communications & Investor Relations Media relations Greg Tucker
+31(0)70-344-8956 E-mail: Investor relations Gerbrand Nijman
+31(0)70-344-8305 or +1-877-548-9668 - toll free USA only E-mail:
Website: http:/// http://www.aegon.com/ DATASOURCE: AEGON N.V.
CONTACT: AEGON Group Corporate Communications & Investor
Relations: Media relations, Greg Tucker, +31(0)70-344-8956, E-mail:
; Investor relations, Gerbrand Nijman, +31(0)70-344-8305 or
+1-877-548-9668 - toll free USA only, E-mail:
Copyright