Aegon is today announcing that it will repurchase 14,488,648 common shares to
neutralize the dilutive effect of the 2013 final dividend paid in shares.
During the dividend election period, which ran from Friday May 30 to Friday June 13,
2014, shareholders were given the opportunity to choose between receiving the final
dividend of EUR 0.11 per common share in cash or common shares. 40% of shareholders
elected to receive the stock dividend. The remaining 60% opted for cash dividend. As a
result, 14,488,648 new common shares will be issued on June 20, 2014. The number of
outstanding common shares will remain unchanged because Aegon will repurchase the same
number of shares that were issued.
Shareholders who elected a stock dividend will receive one new Aegon common share for
every 59 common shares held. The stock fraction is based on Aegon's average share price as
quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange, using the high and low of each of the
five trading days from June 9 up to and including June 13, 2014. The stock dividend and
the cash dividend are approximately equal in value.
Aegon has committed itself to the repurchase of the common shares by engaging a third
party to execute the transactions on its behalf. The transactions will commence on June
20, 2014, and are expected to be completed on or before July 18, 2014. The common shares
will be repurchased at a maximum of the daily volume-weighted average price. Aegon will
provide a weekly update regarding the transactions on its website aegon.com/sharebuyback
[http://www.aegon.com/sharebuyback ].
DISCLAIMERS
Forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-looking statements: aim,
believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting on,
plan, continue, want, forecast, goal, should, would, is confident, will, and similar
expressions as they relate to Aegon. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to
predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual
results may differ materially from expectations conveyed in forward-looking statements due
to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include
but are not limited to the following:
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- Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
- Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets,
such as with regard to:
- The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon's fixed income
investment portfolios;
- The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the
financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities
Aegon holds; and
- The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private sector securities
and the resulting decline in the value of sovereign exposure that Aegon holds;
- Changes in the performance of Aegon's investment portfolio and decline in
ratings of Aegon's counterparties;
- Consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro or the potential
independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom
- The frequency and severity of insured loss events;
- Changes affecting longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence and other
factors that may impact the profitability of Aegon's insurance products;
- Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risks may fail to
meet their obligations;
- Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly changing
interest rate levels;
- Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and
EUR/GBP exchange rates;
- Changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, liquidity sources
such as bank and capital markets funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets
in general such as changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness;
- Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and emerging markets;
- Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting Aegon's
operations, ability to hire and retain key personnel, the products Aegon sells, and
the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers;
- Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions in
which Aegon operates;
- Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general related to, among
other things, the type of products also Aegon sells, including legal, regulatory or
commercial necessity to meet changing customer expectations;
- Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics;
- Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;
- Lowering of one or more of Aegon's debt ratings issued by recognized rating
organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on Aegon's ability to raise
capital and on its liquidity and financial condition;
- Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of Aegon's
insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the premium
writings, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
- The effect of the European Union's Solvency II requirements and other
regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is required to
maintain;
- Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay significant
damages or change the way Aegon does business;
- As Aegon's operations support complex transactions and are highly dependent on
the proper functioning of information technology, a computer system failure or
security breach may disrupt Aegon's business, damage its reputation and adversely
affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;
- Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
- Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect profitability, the
distribution cost of or demand for Aegon's products;
- Changes in accounting regulations and policies or a change by Aegon in
applying such regulations and policies, voluntarily or otherwise, may affect Aegon's
reported results and shareholders' equity;
- The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product
withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon's ability to integrate
acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and synergies from acquisitions;
- Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, could result in material
losses and significantly interrupt Aegon's business; and
- Aegon's failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational
efficiencies as well as other cost saving and excess capital and leverage ratio
management initiatives.
</pre> Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Aegon are described in
its filings with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and the US Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report. These forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or
regulation, Aegon expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly
any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any
change in Aegon's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Aegon's roots go back more than 150 years - to the first half of the nineteenth
century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an international company, with businesses in
more than 25 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Today, Aegon is one of the
world's leading financial services organizations, providing life insurance, pensions and
asset management. Aegon's purpose is to help people take responsibility for their
financial future. More information: aegon.com [http://www.aegon.com ].
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Media relations
Robin Boon
+31-(0)70-344-8956
[email protected]
Investor relations
Willem van den Berg
+31-(0)70-3448305
[email protected]
</pre> PRN NLD
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