Prudential may pursue deal for ING's U.S. retirement biz, a Wells analyst predicts

A Wells Fargo Securities analyst has speculated that Prudential Financial Inc. may target ING's U.S. retirement business as an acquisition. John Hall, an analyst with the unit of Wells Fargo & Co., issued a report last month in which he raised Prudential's stock to “outperform,” from “market perform,” kicking up its valuation range to $58 to $64 per share. That's up from the per-share range of $47 to $51 the analyst previously pegged for the financial services giant. Though most observers have seen American International Group Inc.'s properties as potential acquisition targets for Prudential, Mr. Hall said that ING Groep NV's U.S. retirement business and an Asian insurance business were the most likely near-term targets. “Although the Dutch bank assurance company's operations are smaller, they comprise a collection of insurance businesses that could appeal to large insurers such as Prudential Financial, MetLife [Inc.] and Axa [Financial Inc.]” Mr. Hall wrote. “From our point of view, ING businesses may be more manageable from the standpoint of size and less entangled from the standpoint of transparency and cross-corporate ownership than those of AIG,” he noted. Other competitors are already poised to pounce on potential acquisition targets. Last month, Sun Life Financial Inc.'s president, Jon Boscia, noted that his company is interested in a life insurance acquisition in the United States as companies are either spun out in the near term or as whole carriers go on sale in the next few years. ING spokesman Dana Ripley and Prudential spokeswoman Alicia Alston de-clined to comment. E-mail Darla Mercado at dmercado@investmentnews.com.