Insurance company ASR Nederland is selling its online bank Knab to Austria’s Bawag Group for €510 million plus an additional €80 million to manage its mortgage portfolio.

ASR took over Knab in July 2023 when it acquired Aegon’s Dutch activities, having hived off its banking activities to Achmea and Evi van Lanschot because of the lack of “strategic fit”. It has been trying to divest Knab since then.

Knab was launched by Aegon in 2012 to focus on freelancers and small businesses, offering banking services plus insurance, pension products and mortgages.

It was the first Dutch bank to adopt a 100% digital strategy and currently has just under 400,000 account holders. In the 2023 first half it generated net profit of €64.5 million.

The deal is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2024.

Bawag Group is publicly listed and based in Vienna. It operates various brands focusing on 2.1 million retail, small business, corporate, real estate and public sector customers across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Western Europe and the United States.