ING Closes Acquisition of CitiStreet; Solidifies Leadership Position in Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Market

ING Group (NYSE: ING) announced that it has received final regulatory approvals and today completed its acquisition of CitiStreet LLC, one of the premier retirement plan and benefit service and administration organizations in the US, which includes CitiStreet's Australian operations. The transaction closed quickly, in approximately 60 days from signing, reflecting the complementary nature of the two organizations and the seamlessness of the transition.

Tom McInerney, ING Executive Board member and CEO for ING Insurance Americas said, "We are thrilled to reach this significant milestone, and officially welcome CitiStreet employees, clients, and other business partners to ING. This acquisition is another demonstration of ING's focused strategy to support the organic growth of the Group with strategic, bolt-on acquisitions aligned with its core banking, investments, life insurance, and retirement services growth businesses."

ING's US Wealth Management business has a leadership position in a wide range of businesses, including defined contribution retirement plans, defined benefit pension plans, fixed and variable annuities, retirement income solutions, managed accounts, financial planning, retirement plan rollovers, stable value programs, as well as a health and welfare operation.

In aggregate, the combined ING US Wealth Management and CitiStreet businesses, which includes CitiStreet's Australian operations, has more than US $408 billion in combined AUM and AUA and more than 16 million customers (as of March 31, 2008).

Kathleen Murphy, CEO, ING US Wealth Management said, "We have all the characteristics of an undisputed market leader -- scale in our market segments, an outstanding technology platform, innovative products, strong distribution relationships, and a powerful global brand. In addition, what truly differentiates ING and will allow us to further grow the business is our committed focus on our customers, and helping them successfully prepare for their retirement. ING is one of the few retirement services companies that has a scaled leadership presence in the small-, mid- and large-corporate, education, and government and health care markets, which allows us to design and implement retirement and benefit solutions for any plan sponsor we encounter."

Sandy McCarthy, previously president, CitiStreet, and now president, Institutional Plan Services, ING US Wealth Management said, "The integration of our customer-centric organization has been seamless, orderly, and has revealed the true potential of the combined organizations to meet the retirement and other benefit needs of plan sponsors and plan participants. We have generated significant momentum and enthusiasm, and are ready to address the marketplace with a value proposition that spans the full spectrum of the plan sponsor marketplace."

According to the most recent third-party data(1), ING is now the third largest defined contribution business in the US based on combined assets under management (AUM) and assets under administration (AUA) with more than US $300 billion; the second largest based on number of plan participants with approximately 9.8 million; and the largest based on number of plans with approximately 60,000.

Murphy added, "The converging defined contribution and benefits environment requires that we keep pace with the evolving needs of Americans, particularly in light of how important the defined contribution retirement plan is for long-term retirement security. As a Wealth Management organization, ING has the capability to help its customers accumulate assets, and then create a stream of income that will last throughout their retirement years."

Under the terms of the agreement, ING acquired 100 percent of CitiStreet for a total consideration of approximately US $900 million. The acquisition was financed entirely from existing internal resources and will be booked in the third quarter.

  Press enquiries:

  Pilar Teixeira                      Dana Ripley
  ING Group                           ING Insurance Americas
  +31 20 541 5469                     +1 770.980.4865
  pilar.teixeira@ing.com              +1 404.788.9624
                                      dana.ripley@us.ing.com

Certain of the statements contained herein are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, among other things, (i) general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) interest rate levels, (vii) currency exchange rates (viii) general competitive factors, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, (x) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (xi) conclusions with regard purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (xii) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies. ING assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document.

ING Profile

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 130,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

In the Americas, ING Insurance employs 40,000 people and serves over 44 million customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, where ING offers a range of wealth accumulation and asset management products and participates in the pension, life, annuity, health, auto and property & casualty insurance businesses.

(1) From 2008 PLAN SPONSOR record keepers survey data

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: dana.ripley@us.ing.com

SOURCE: ING Group

CONTACT: Pilar Teixeira of ING Group, +31 20 541 5469,
pilar.teixeira@ing.com; or Dana Ripley of ING Insurance Americas,
+1-770-980-4865 or +1-404-788-9624, dana.ripley@us.ing.com

Web site: http://www.ing.com/us