Business news with words aegon+billion. 5 news.

Merrill Lynch's sale of two life-insurance units to Dutch insurance and investment-products provider Aegon has closed, with the $1.25 billion pricetag being $50 million less than the two parties agreed to in August.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch on Monday completed a previously announced deal with Aegon , where it's selling its life insurance unit for $1.25 billion in cash. Aegon's Transamerica companies will continue to supply insurance and investment products, including offering the flagship Merrill Lynch Investor Choice Annuity product through the acquired Merrill Lynch subsidiaries. Merrill Lynch expects to record a gain on sale during the fourth quarter of 2007 and anticipates the transaction to be slightly accretive to earnings per share and to have a positive effect on return on equity in 2008 after redeployment of proceeds. Aegon expects the acquisition to add scale to its existing business and to have a marginally positive effect on earnings per share.

JAPAN'S biggest initial public offering of the year opened today with shares of Sony Corp's financial unit opening 5 percent above their premarket price. Sony Financial Holdings Inc raised an estimated 348 billion yen, or nearly US$2.97 billion, in selling shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock was fetching 421,000 yen in early Tokyo trading, compared with an IPO price of 400,000 yen. The IPO is the biggest in Japan since Aozora Bank Ltd's 379.97 billion yen listing in November. Sony Corp has long planned an IPO for the unit. Sony Financial Holdings operates Sony Bank as well as life and other insurance companies. It accounted for 9 percent of Sony's group revenue in the fiscal year ended March. The wholly owned subsidiary of the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant offered 75,000 new shares, while Sony will sell 795,000 of its 2.10 million Sony Financial shares to the public, including an additional 70,000 shares as an option to meet demand. Despite lingering worries about the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, which roiled global markets in August, analysts say the price could keep rising. "It's possible that shares of Sony Financial will rise to 500,000 yen in the near term if individual investors switch to aggressive buying as market sentiment improves," says Mitsushige Akino, general manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management. Sony Financial has said it plans to use the money from the offering for the establishment of an annuity business joint venture with Aegon International N.V., and the remainder for a computer system at its three subsidiaries. For the fiscal year ending in March 2008, Sony Financial forecasts a net profit of 15 billion yen on 804 billion yen sales.

EUROPEAN stocks posted the first quarterly loss in a year on Friday as a weaker dollar and rising borrowing costs pushed exporters and banks lower. Tate & Lyle Plc plunged 28 percent after the United Kingdom sugar producer said the weaker US currency is likely to reduce profit. L'Oreal SA paced a decline by companies dependent on the United States for sales. Barclays Plc and Societe Generale SA led a retreat by banks as interbank rates increased. "It's the end of a very volatile quarter, and it's not surprising to see people closing some positions," Simon Carter, who helps oversee US$3 billion at Aegon Asset Management in Edinburgh, told Bloomberg News. "The dollar's decline against the euro may also have a few investors worried about the effect on European profits." The dollar fell to US$1.4222 against the euro on Friday on speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs for a second time this year. A weaker dollar erodes the value of sales European companies generate in the US and makes exports more expensive. Rio Tinto Group led gains by mining stocks, limited losses, as copper rose. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index lost less than 0.1 percent to 377.86 on Friday, gaining 0.3 percent for the week. The index added 0.5 percent in September. The Stoxx 50 sank 0.1 percent yesterday, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, retreated 0.2 percent. National benchmarks fell in 10 of the 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 lost 0.3 percent, as did the UK's FTSE 100. Germany's DAX added 0.1 percent. Tate & Lyle tumbled 155 pence (US$3.16) to 402.5. The company expects its sugar unit to report a "small" loss in the first half, while the decline in the dollar is likely to result in a drop in second-half pretax profit. "Tate & Lyle looks to have taken some of the wind out of the market's sails," said Kevin Lilley, who helps manage about US$2.5 billion at Royal London Asset Management. "The dollar will be a concern for certain sectors and is probably acting as a bit of a headwind." L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker, dropped 1.3 percent to 92 euros (US$131). GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's biggest drug maker, fell 1.1 percent to 1,297 pence. L'Oreal generates about 27 percent of its sales in North America. The US accounts for almost half of Glaxo's revenue. The London interbank offered rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans in pounds rose 20

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Aegon NV on Friday said an offering of $1 billion of perpetual capital securities have been priced at $25 and will carry a fixed coupon of 7.25%. The Dutch insurer said the offer is expected to close on Sept. 21, and the perpetual capital securities are expected to be admitted for trading on the New York Stock Exchange within 30 days thereafter. Proceeds from the issue will be used for general corporate purposes, said Aegon.