Insurer Aegon says annuities divestment will lift Solvency II rating

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch insurer Aegon said on Monday that the divestment of its remaining annuities businesses in Britain to Legal and General Group will lead to an improvement of up to 20 percent in its solvency ratio in that country. Aegon's shares declined as much as 10 percent on May 12 when it reported first-quarter earnings showing company wide solvency under Europe's new Solvency II regime falling to 155 percent from 160 percent.. The company announced on Monday that it is transferring 3 billion pounds worth of annuities liabilities to Legal and General in a two-step process. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by David Goodman)