J.C. Flowers Said to Consider Bids for ING, RBS Units

March 01, 2012, 11:50 a.m. EST 1 Min Read

New York private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. is considering bids for Asian insurance assets being sold by ING Groep NV and for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's Direct Line Group insurance business, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people with direct knowledge of the talks.

Dutch financial company ING is looking to sell its Asian insurance business before a European Union deadline at the end of 2013, in an effort to help raise EUR3 billion, or $4 billion, it owes the Dutch state, Bloomberg reported. Analysts have estimated ING's Asian insurance operations to be valued at EUR5 billion to EUR6 billion, the report added.

RBS must sell its insurance unit by 2013 to comply with EU state aid rules after it received a government bailout. Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood estimated the Direct Line unit may be valued at about GBP4.7 billion, or $7.5 billion, Bloomberg reported.

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