By Najat Kantouar

Aegon shares fell after the Dutch insurer and asset manager outlined plans to relocate its business to the U.S. and rebrand as Transamerica Inc., a move that could affect its Netherlands-based workforce.

In European morning trading, shares were down 53 European cents, or 7.6%, at 6.36 Euros. Year to date, shares have risen 11%.

The move across the Atlantic reflects the company's ambition to become a leading U.S. life insurance and retirement group, Aegon said in an update Wednesday. The transition is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2028.

The relocation will ultimately have a significant impact on the company's workforce at its head office in the Netherlands, Chief Executive Lard Friese said.

"While this was not an easy decision to make, it fully embraces the reality of our business and prioritizes resources to build a leading franchise in the U.S.," Friese said.

The company might look at divesting its U.K. business as part of its shift to focusing on its American operations, it said.

Berenberg analyst Michael Huttner noted in August that Aegon's strong U.S. growth might be prompting management to consider shifting the company's headquarters from the Netherlands to the U.S.

The company earlier this year reported a 19% increase in first-half operating profit, driven largely by the performance of its Aegon Americas division.

Aegon said it expects a one-time implementation cost of around 350 million euros ($406.9 million) between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2028.

After the relocation, Transamerica's common stock will remain listed on Euronext and NYSE, it added.

Meanwhile, the company outlined new financial targets, including dividend growth over the transition period of more than 5% a year from around 40 European cents a share for the current year.

Aegon will buy back shares worth 400 million euros in a program to be split between the first and second halves of next year. Total shareholder returns should reach 1 billion euros by the end of 2026, it said.

The company also plans to reinsure a block of its life-insurance policies, a move it said will decrease the total capital used by $300 million to $2.7 billion. The transaction is expected to hurt the company's risk-based capital ratio, which will be offset by a capital investment of $800 million into Transamerica, it added.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 10, 2025 04:00 ET (09:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.