The ING Group got a little ahead of itself on Tuesday morning, accidentally announcing a plan to sell 33 million shares of common stock in its American insurance unit.
The Dutch insurance giant issued a statement soon after telling investors that the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission “should be ignored until further notice.â€
It was unclear just how ING managed to disclose the stock sale prematurely.
“Someone filed something which shouldn’t have been filed,†said Raymond Vermeulen, a spokesman for ING.
The original filing even included a statement from Ralph Hamers, its chief executive, who called the sale “another important milestone†in the parent company’s restructuring.
ING is in the process of reducing its stake in its American retirement, insurance and investment business as it continues to repay the Dutch government for a financial crisis bailout of 10 billion euros, or $13.9 billion at current exchange rates. The company disclosed last week that it was exploring a further sale of shares in a separate filing with the S.E.C.
The sale of 33 million shares would have reduced the ING Group’s stake in its United States subsidiary, ING US, to 45 percent from 57 percent at the end of 2013.
In recent months, many other companies have prematurely released financial news, ranging from merger announcements that jump the gun to earnings statements.
Shares of ING were up slightly in morning trading.
