ING has hit upon an interesting way to pay for its acquisition of Aetna's financial services arm, it will sell stakes in other holdings. Amsterdam-based ING Groep NV will pay $7.7 billion for Aetna's units, including $billion in cash. To make the payments, Cees Maas, its chief financial officer, said that ING will sell shares in other companies to finance the deal and that it may also issue a small amount of new shares.

When the deal is closed the combined units will manage $176 billion in U.S. assets. Aetna manages $96 billion in assets, according to Pensions & Investments. This amount includes $42 billion in defined contribution assets and $5.3 billion in mutual funds.

Aetna Retirement Services ranks as the tenth largest provider of 401(k) plans, according to the magazine, with nearly 1.2 million participants and 26,600 plans.

The companies signed the deal last night in the "middle of the night" in Hartford according to the Wall Street Journal. The announcement was expected last weekend but was delayed as the deal was structured to enable Aetna shareholders to avoid a capital gains tax on the deal. Aetna shareholders would get $35 in cash and one share in the health-care company for each share of Aetna.

The paper also quotes ING Chairman Ewald Kist as saying that the firm will not make major acquisitions in the next few years as it digests Aetna. "We have a good position in Europe, Asia and North America, and are done for the next few years," Mr. Kist he is quoted by the paper as saying. 

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