ING Group on Thursday announced its intention to proceed with the flotation of its insurance company Nationale Nederlanden on Euronext Amsterdam.

The long-awaited IPO will be the largest in Europe and is expected to raise €2bn.

ING was instructed by the European Commission to divest NN because of the €10bn state loan it received during the banking crisis of 2008. The commission demanded ING should be broken up into a bank and an insurance company.

ING says it aims to have sold an initial 50% of the shares by the end of 2015 and the rest a year later. However, according to sources quoted by the Telegraaf, the initial offer will be 25%.

ING still has to repay €1bn of its state aid. The rest of the money raised from the flotation will go to paying off third party debt.