ING Canada Moves to Buy Equisure

On August 25, 2000, ING Canada Inc. (the Canadian Subsidiary of Amersterdam-based ING Group—a global leader in integrated financial services) announced that it, in partnership with insurance brokers, would make an offer for 100 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Equisure Financial Network Inc. (Equisure), one of the largest publicly traded insurance and financial service brokerage networks in Canada. The consideration offered is $7.00 per Equisure common share, and in the aggregate is approximately $136 million, excluding shares that ING already owns. ING plans to mail its offer to shareholders by the end of September, 2000.

The Toronto office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP is acting for ING. Jon Levin and Jeff Legault are providing securities law advice, with Robert McDowell and Robert Elliott handling the regulatory side. Acting for Equisure is a Stikeman Elliot team, headed by Bill Braithwaite that includes Deepak Rajpal and Gwen Cheung.