ING Group buys US retirement plan business

ING Group has struck a deal to buy US retirement plan firm CitiStreet for $900 million (£454 million).

CitiStreet is jointly owned by Citigroup and State Street Corporation and ING said the acquisition would be financed by internal resources.

Amsterdam-based ING said CitiStreet has 3,700 employees with the majority located in the US. The company did not say at this stage whether there would be any staff lay-offs.

The deal will make ING the third-largest defined contribution business in the US based on assets under management (AUM) and assets under administration (AUA) with $351 billion (£177 billion) in AUM and AUA, and with over 14 million customers, the second-largest based on plan participants.

Michel Tilmant, ING Group chairman, said: "This acquisition is consistent with ING's focused strategy to support the strong organic growth of the group with suitable add-on acquisitions aligned with its core banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services growth businesses."

The company said CitiStreet's "impressive scale and exceptional reputation" in the mid- and large-corporate markets, complements ING's focus on the small- and mid-corporate, government, and education markets.

The acquisition will help ING expand in the US retirement services business, the company added.

According to ING, the acquisition is expected to be earnings-per-share accretive by 2010, excluding merger-related expenses and the amortization of customer-based intangible assets.

This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected be closed in the third quarter of 2008.