THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, July 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Aegon's subsidiary Aegon USA, LLC has reached an agreement with Greenspoint Capital and The Newport Group to sell Clark Consulting, its Bank-Owned Life Insurance (BOLI) distribution and servicing unit in the US, for USD 177.5 million (EUR 160 million).

Aegon aims to enhance its risk-return profile and to improve capital efficiency. This transaction demonstrates the company's ongoing efforts to further reduce the capital deployed to its run-off businesses and increase the return on capital invested.

Clark Consulting is a distinct entity within the BOLI/COLI insurance business that is currently in run-off. The BOLI/COLI insurance block with a balance of USD 8.5 billion is not part of this transaction and will continue to be serviced by Aegon's US subsidiaries.

The parties anticipate that the transaction will close in the third quarter of 2015, subject to regulatory approvals.

Note to the editor 

About Clark Consulting 

For over four decades Clark Consulting has built strong relationships with clients and insurance company partners in the financial services industry and has created tailored Bank-Owned Life Insurance (BOLI) programs for major financial institutions for more than 25 years. Clark Consulting's mission is to offer Insurance Solutions To Optimize Capital and to continue serving the ever-changing life insurance needs of financial institutions.

About Greenspoint Capital and The Newport Group 

Greenspoint Capital, LLC, is a newly-formed entity directly and indirectly owned by investment funds managed by Stone Point Capital, LLC, and an affiliate of A2 Capital Holdings, LLC.  Stone Point Capital is a financial services-focused private equity firm based in Greenwich, Conn. The firm has raised and managed six private equity funds - the Trident Funds - with aggregate committed capital of approximately USD 13 billion. Investment funds managed by Stone Point Capital own a controlling interest in The Newport Group (Newport). Newport is one of the leading independent retirement service companies in the United States. Newport works closely with advisors to provide employers with a complete array of retirement solutions, corporate insurance services, and consulting services. Together with its affiliate, Verisight, Inc., the firm has approximately 1,000 associates across the nation, more than 9,500 plans with over 975,000 plan participants, and services more than USD 120 billion of corporate client assets.

Note: Aegon USA, LLC is domiciled in the United States and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon N.V., headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. 

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'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. Aegon's purpose is to help people take responsibility for their financial future. More information: aegon.com [http://www.aegon.com ]. 


        
         
        Media relations 
        Dick Schiethart 
        +31(0)70-344-8821 
        gcc@aegon.com 
        EmptyBreak:MARKER 
        Investor relations 
        Willem van den Berg 
        +31(0)70-344-8405 
        ir@aegon.com 

  PRN NLD

SOURCE Aegon N.V.