Dutch insurer ING's strategic focus on its regional structured product business is unlikely to change following the agreement to sell the majority stake of its life insurance unit in South Korea to private equity buyout firm, MBK Partners.

An ING spokesperson told SRP that it is too early to predict any changes in the business including any headcount exercises after the $1.65bn acquisition, as the proposed deal is still pending regulatory approval.

Under the new arrangement, ING will maintain 10% ownership of the life insurance unit and will provide technical assistance for one year, while a separate licensing contract will allow the use of the ING brand by MBK Partners for up to five years.

"This transaction is a major step in the divestment of the Asian insurance and investment business," said chief executive officer of ING Group, Jan Hommen, in a statement. "... the next scheduled payment to the Dutch state in November 2013 ... will bring us to the end phase of the restructuring of our company."

ING Korea exited the local retail structured product market in late 2007. In Asia, the group has limited its activity in the retail structured product market, having launched 33 products in the region so far this year compared to 69 products in 2012 and 210 products in 2011.

The sale of its Korean insurance arm follows a series of downsizing moves by the Dutch provider which is refocusing its activities on non-life insurance business including structured solutions at the private end, with a number of transactions reportedly launched using a range of underlying themes and structures.

ING has been taking steps since 2010 to divest all of its insurance and investment management operations by the end of this year, as part of the agreement with European Commission in late 2009 in exchange for the government bailout during the financial crisis.

Last year, the European Commission agreed to extend the deadline for asset divestiture in Asia to the end of 2016.

MBK Partners runs a portfolio of funds with over $8bn in assets under management and has offices in Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. The firm does not currently sell any structured products.

Calls to MBK to establish if the firm will be making inroads into the local structured products market were not returned by press time.