The Hague, February 16, 2022 – Aegon has taken note of the announcement issued today by the Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (VIG) regarding the agreement reached between VIG and the Hungarian state holding company Corvinus Nemzetközi Befektetési Zrt . (Corvinus) on the details of their cooperation which had been broadly set out in the Memorandum of Understanding dated December 23, 2021. The announcement reads:

“[…] As part of the cooperation, Corvinus will acquire a 45% stake in the Hungarian companies VIG.

The Hungarian VIG companies will be held through the Hungarian VIG holding company (VIG Magyarorszag Befektetesi Zrt.) and two Dutch holding companies (Aegon Hungary Holding BV and Aegon Hungary Holding II BV). Corvinus will acquire a 45% minority non-controlling interest in each of these three holding companies. The agreed purchase price for the three 45% stakes in these holding companies amounts to approximately 350 million euros.

98.64% of the shares of UNION Vienna Insurance Group Biztosito Zrt. will be contributed to the Hungarian holding company VIG. The two Dutch Aegon holding companies own 100% of the shares of the Hungarian Aegon companies (insurance, asset management, pension funds and service companies). VIG will retain a majority controlling stake of 55% in these three holding companies. As a next step, it is planned to merge the three holding companies, with the Hungarian holding company VIG being designated as the remaining central steering unit.

Closing of the transaction is subject to necessary regulatory and competitive approvals as well as the closing of the transaction with Aegon.

On November 29, 2020, Aegon agreed to sell its insurance, pension and asset management businesses in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Turkey to VIG for €830 million. Aegon will continue to work with VIG to complete this transaction, which is subject to local regulatory approvals.

About Aegon

Aegon is an integrated and diversified international financial services group. The company offers investment, protection and retirement solutions, with a strategic focus on three core markets (US, UK and Netherlands), three growth markets (Spain and Portugal, Brazil and China) and a global market. asset manager. Aegon’s goal of Helping people live their best life runs through all its activities. As a leading global investor and employer, the company seeks to make a positive impact by tackling critical environmental and societal issues, with a focus on climate change, inclusion and diversity. Aegon is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. More information can be found at aegon.com.

Forward-looking statements
Statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following words identify such forward-looking statements: aim, believe, estimate, target, have the intention, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, rely on, plan, continue, will, foresee, aim, should, could, is confident, will and similar expressions relating to Aegon. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which only reflect the company’s expectations at the time of writing. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Changes in general economic and/or governmental conditions, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
• Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, in particular with regard to:
  • The frequency and severity of issuer defaults in Aegon’s fixed income investment portfolios;
  • The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of shares and debt securities held by Aegon; and
  • The effects of the decline in the creditworthiness of certain public sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of government exposure held by Aegon;
• Changes in the performance of Aegon’s investment portfolio and downgrades of Aegon’s counterparty ratings;
• The downgrading of one or more of Aegon’s credit ratings issued by recognized rating agencies and the adverse impact such action may have on Aegon’s ability to raise capital and on its liquidity and financial situation ;
• The lowering of one or more of the financial strength ratings of insurers of Aegon’s insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on premium written, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
• The effect of European Union Solvency II requirements and other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is bound to maintain;
• Changes in interest rate levels and interest rate levels that continue to be low or move rapidly;
• Changes affecting exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
• Changes in the availability and costs associated with sources of liquidity such as bank and capital market funding, as well as conditions in credit markets generally such as changes in the creditworthiness of the borrower and the consideration;
• Increased levels of competition in the US, Netherlands, UK and emerging markets;
• Catastrophic events, whether man-made or natural, including, by way of example, acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics, could result in property loss and significant disruption to Aegon’s business. ;
• The frequency and severity of insured claims;
• Changes in longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence and other factors that may affect the profitability of Aegon’s insurance products;
• Aegon’s projected results are highly sensitive to complex mathematical models of financial markets, mortality, longevity and other dynamic systems subject to shocks and unpredictable volatility. If the assumptions of these models subsequently prove to be incorrect, or if errors in these models escape the controls in place to detect them, future performance will differ from projected results;
• Reinsurers to which Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risk may default;
• Changes in customer behavior and general public opinion related to, among other things, the type of products sold by Aegon, including the legal, regulatory or business need to meet changing customer expectations;
• Customer responsiveness to new products and distribution channels;
• Because Aegon’s operations support complex transactions and rely heavily on the proper functioning of information technology, operational risks such as system disruptions or failures, security or privacy breaches data, cyberattacks, human error, failure to protect personally identifiable information, changes in operating practices or inadequate controls, including with respect to third parties with whom we do business, may disrupt the business of Aegon, damage its reputation and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;
• The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon’s ability to integrate acquisitions and achieve anticipated results and synergies from acquisitions;
• Aegon’s failure to achieve expected levels of earnings or operating efficiencies, as well as other management initiatives related to cost savings, Holding’s liquidity, gross leverage and free cash flow;
• Changes in central bank and/or government policies;
• Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay material damages or change the way Aegon does business;
• competitive, legal, regulatory or tax changes that affect the profitability, cost of distribution or demand for Aegon’s products;
• Consequences of an actual or potential break-up of the European Monetary Union in whole or in part, or of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and potential consequences if other European Union countries leave the Union European;
• Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting the ability of Aegon’s operations to hire and retain key personnel, taxation of Aegon companies, the products sold by Aegon and the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers;
• Regulatory changes relating to the pension, investment and insurance industries in the jurisdictions in which Aegon operates;
• Standardization initiatives from supranational standards bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors or changes to these standards that may impact regional financial regulation (such as the EU), national or federal or state law or its application to Aegon, including Aegon’s designation by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Insurer (G-SII); and
• Changes in accounting regulations and policies or modification by Aegon of the application of such regulations and policies, intentionally or otherwise, that could affect Aegon’s reported results, shareholders’ equity or regulatory capital adequacy levels.

Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Aegon are described in its filings with the Dutch Securities and Exchange Authority and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the annual report. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Aegon expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revision to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Aegon’s expectations with respect thereto or any change of events, conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based.

• 20220216 – PR – VIG reaches agreement with Hungarian state holding company Corvinus