Berkshire to Buy ING Unit

Amsterdam-based ING Group (ING Quote - Cramer on ING - Stock Picks) has agreed to sell its reinsurance unit NRG N.V. to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A Quote - Cramer on BRK.A - Stock Picks) for roughly $440 million.

The sale, ING said, is part of its strategy to focus on its core insurance, banking and asset-management businesses.

NRG was established in 1968 as Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep following the merger of the two main Dutch reinsurance companies at the time, Algemeene Herverzekering Maatschappij and Universeele Reassurantie Maatschappij.

ING became majority shareholder in 1974 and the sole owner in 1991. The sale should close in the first half of 2008.

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