ING Group announced today that it is in discussions with regard to the possible sale of ING's 83.7% stake in Deutsche Hypothekenbank AG, a publicly-listed mortgage bank in Germany which specialises in large-scale commercial financing. Negotiations are ongoing and no further details will be disclosed at this time.
Deutsche Hypothekenbank had total assets of €33.2 billion as of year-end 2005, including a mortgage portfolio of €7.9 billion and €13.9 billion in public-sector loans and bonds. The bank posted an annual net income of €32.7 million last year.
ING acquired the stake in 1999 as part of the purchase of BHF-Bank AG. The potential sale is part of ING Group's strategy to focus on core businesses and allocate capital to those businesses where it can generate the highest returns. The current discussions follow the sale of most of BHF-Bank to Sal. Oppenheim at the end of 2004. ING continues to serve its key Wholesale Banking clients in Germany under the name ING Bank Deutschland AG. ING's direct banking business in Germany, ING DiBa, is not affected by the potential transaction.
Source: ING Group
