ING To Sell Stake In Capital One

LONDON — The Dutch financial services giant ING plans to sell its 9 percent stake in Capital One in a deal that could be worth around $3 billion.

ING acquired the stake in the U.S. firm when Capital One bought ING Direct USA for $9 billion in February.

The Dutch firm said late on Tuesday that it would sell 54 million shares in Capital One, and would set the price before the start of trading in New York on Wednesday.

Based on Capital One's closing share price on Tuesday, ING's stake in the U.S. firm is worth around $3 billion.

The Dutch firm said it planned to complete the transaction by Sept. 10.

The deal for ING Direct USA transformed Capital One into the country's fifth largest bank by deposits. The combined businesses have around $200 billion in deposits, making it larger than regional powerhouses like PNC and TD Bank.

Under the terms of the deal, Capital One issued $2.8 billion worth of new shares to ING, making the Dutch firm its largest shareholder.

The move to offload the shares comes as ING has been forced to sell assets as part of the conditions of a 10 billion euro ($12.5 billion) bailout that the firm received from its local government in 2008.

Along with the sale of ING Direct USA to Capital One, the Dutch firm sold its online bank in Canada to local rival Bank of Nova Scotia last month for $3.1 billion. The European banking and insurance company also is planning to sell its Asian insurance businesses.

In morning trading in Amsterdam, shares in ING rose less than one percent.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are the joint bookrunners for the deal.