ING agrees to buy back preference shares from Fortis

ING agrees to buy back preference shares from Fortis

Amsterdam • 2 July 2007

ING Group has reached an agreement with Fortis Insurance Netherlands to purchase 28,172,583 “A” preference shares of ING at a price of EUR 3.618175 per share, or EUR 101,933,335.50 in total, representing approximately 5.55 % of the share capital of ING Groep NV. The purchase of the “A” preference shares is not related to the ongoing share buy back programme of (depositary receipts for) ordinary shares.

The purchase price agreed with Fortis is approximately EUR 0.55 higher than the closing price on Friday 29 June 2007 for the “A” preference shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, where they trade with a limited volume of approximately 3,000 shares per day on average. ING is of the opinion that EUR 3.618175 is a fair price, representing the equivalent to a yield of 50 basis points above the comparable government bond on a pre-tax equivalent basis, which is roughly in line with the yield on ING’s hybrid capital instruments. Also, the price agreed is well within the limit set by the annual general meeting of shareholders on 24 April 2007.

ING has a standing mandate from the AGM to buy back preference shares.  The preference shares repurchased will be cancelled.

The transaction will have no significant impact on ING Group’s earnings or key ratios.

Press enquiries:

Media Relations, ING Group, +31 20 576 5000, media.relations@ing.com

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries.

With a diverse workforce of about 120,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.