AEGON Completes Acquisition of Polish Pension Company

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, December 31 /PRNewswire/ -- AEGON has completed its acquisition of the Polish pension company PTE Skarbiec Emerytura SA, after receiving final regulatory approval recently. AEGON initiated the transaction in June 2007 as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the company's businesses in Central & Eastern Europe.

"This acquisition significantly enhances our position in the Polish market," said Gabor Kepecs, member of the Management Board responsible for AEGON's operations in Central & Eastern Europe. "AEGON is now Poland's sixth largest pension fund company, with nearly 800,000 members and almost EUR 1.8 billion*) in pension assets under management."

In recent years, AEGON has significantly expanded its pension business in Central & Eastern Europe. Currently, AEGON has more than two million pension fund members in the region, with EUR 4 billion*) pension assets under management, and businesses in six countries - Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Turkey. AEGON has been present in Poland since 2005 and has both pension and life insurance activities in the country.

Under the terms of the transaction, AEGON has acquired BRE Bank's stake in PTE Skarbiec Emerytura for EUR 117 million, in line with the estimate given in June 2007.

*) At September 30, 2008

AEGON is one of the world's largest life insurance and pension groups, and a strong provider of investment products. AEGON empowers local business units to identify and provide products and services that meet the evolving needs of customers, using distribution channels best suited to local markets. AEGON takes pride in balancing a local approach with the power of an expanding global operation. With headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON companies employ almost 32,000 people worldwide. AEGON's businesses serve millions of customers in over twenty markets throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Respect, quality, transparency and trust constitute AEGON's core values as the company continually strives to meet the expectations of customers, shareholders, employees and business partners. AEGON is driven to deliver new thinking with the ambition to be the best in the industry.

Forward-looking statements

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- Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; - Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to: - The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income investment portfolios; and - The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities we hold; - The frequency and severity of insured loss events; - Changes affecting mortality, morbidity and other factors that may impact the profitability of our insurance products; - Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly changing interest rate levels; - Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates; - Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets; - Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting our operations, the products we sell, and the attractiveness of certain products to our consumers; - Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions in which we operate; - Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; - Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments; - Litigation or regulatory action that could require us to pay significant damages or change the way we do business; - Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;

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