DUTCH BANCASSURER ING has scrapped its plan to list its combined European and Asian insurance and investment operations, opening the way for a €5 billion trade sale for the more attractive Asian part of the package.

ING blamed economic uncertainty for cancelling its combined initial public offering plan but a listing of the European insurance and investment operations was still possible, it said in a statement yesterday.

Chief executive Jan Hommen told reporters ING had received “strong interest” for the Asian operations but was currently not in talks. Its shares rose to a five-week high.

Potential buyers of the Asian business include US-listed Prudential Financial and Canadian-listed Manulife, banking sources have told Reuters.

ING needs to spin off its insurance and investment management operations by the end of 2013 in return for European Commission approval for €10 billion of Dutch state aid received in 2008.

Ditching the plan for a combined European and Asian listing will make it easier to sell the Asian operations because the European unit is less attractive, as it is a mature, low-growth business in a continent falling into recession.

“That mature market business is a portfolio that is unattractive for divestment,” SNS Securities analyst Lemer Salah said about the European business.

Bankers said in August ING might get a bigger payout if it chose to sell the Asian and European insurance operations to other insurers instead of listing them as one company.

ING shares rose 4.5 per cent to €6.24 yesterday afternoon, outperforming the Stoxx Europe Insurance index, which rose 1.5 per cent.

Mr Salah said it was positive the Asian operations might be sold in one or more trade sales.

“We believe that the net cash proceeds of an ING Insurance Asia/Pacific trade sale will be €3.9 billion. This is a price of €5.2 billion, but we assume €1.3 billion of this will be used to redeem a part of the insurance debt,” Rabobank analyst Cor Kluis said in a note.

An Asian sale makes it more likely that ING spins off the other insurance businesses, which can raise ING’s fair value to €10.8 per share from €7.8, Mr Kluis said. – (Reuters)