Aegon to Sell Transamerica Finance Division

Dutch insurer Aegon said it plans to sell the finance unit of Transamerica Corp. The divestiture of its largest non-insurance division would alow the company to focus attention on its life insurance and pension businesses, a company spokesman said. The finance unit is a $2.5-billion commercial lending and leasing company based in Chicago and Purchase, N.Y. It manages $16 billion in assets and accounted for 25% of San Francisco-based Transamerica’s pretax profit in 1998. It employs 3,000; their future will depend on the terms of a sale, the spokesman said. The decision will not affect employees at Transamerica’s headquarters in San Francisco or in its downtown Los Angeles office, the spokesman said. Aegon, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, began to review Transamerica’s business operations when it acquired the company in July. During this process, Aegon decided that life insurance and pensions were its “core” businesses, spokesman Dan Garcia said. Earlier this week, Transamerica said it would no longer handle Medicare insurance claims and would cut about 560 jobs at its downtown Los Angeles office by the end of the year. Aegon shares rose $1.38 to close at $71 on the New York Stock Exchange.