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ING goes down Mexico way
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February 15, 2000: 10:09 a.m. ET
Dutch firm's $555M deal paves way for control of country's largest insurer
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Dutch financial services provider ING unveiled a $555 million investment in Mexico Tuesday, acquiring a minority stake in the country's largest insurer and opening up the possibility of acquiring majority control.
ING, Europe's fifth-largest financial services company in terms of market value, is buying 39.7 percent of in a new company that will own 71.6 percent of Seguros Comercial America, Mexico's largest life and general insurer.
Mexico City-based SCA has a 27 percent share of the Mexican market, and ING claimed the new company would fit well with its existing banking and pension activities in Mexico.
Amsterdam investors welcomed the deal, driving ING stock 5.5 percent higher to 52.80 euros in late European trading Tuesday.
ING's initial 39.7 percent stake can be increased to 49 percent within a year, and could rise to a majority holding after three years. The Dutch firm has targeted Mexico, the United States and Canada, as key markets for expansion outside its European base.
ING cited a strong economy, the growing Mexican market for financial services and the North American Free Trade Agreement as reasons for stepping up its investment in Mexico.
ING recently posted very strong full-year earnings after admitting its earlier warnings about a millennium-influenced slowdown in activity had been overdone. 
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ING Groep
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