THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, November 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Aegon has reached an agreement to sell its 35% share in La Mondiale Participations to La Mondiale for EUR 350 million, in line with IFRS book value. The proceeds will be added to the company's excess capital buffer and will increase the group's IGD solvency ratio by approximately 5 percentage points.

"We look back at a successful partnership over the past 12 years with La Mondiale and are pleased with the results that we have achieved together", said Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon. "Following a strategic review and in line with our commitment to optimize our portfolio, we concluded that the partnership no longer matches our ambitions."

Aegon and La Mondiale entered into a joint venture in 2002 to form La Mondiale Participations, which offers life insurance, pensions and savings products in France and Luxemburg. Aegon's share in net underlying earnings of the partnership amounted to EUR 19 million in the first nine months of 2014.

It is anticipated that the transaction will close during the first quarter of 2015, subject to regulatory approval.

News releases, financial calendar and other corporate publications can also be found in Aegon's Investor & Media App.

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 170 years - to the first half of the nineteenth century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an international company, with businesses in more than 25 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
        Marcel van Beusekom
        +31(0)70-344-8572
        gcc@aegon.com

        Investor relations
        Willem van den Berg
        +31(0)70-344-8305
        ir@aegon.com

SOURCE Aegon N.V.