AMSTERDAM: Delta Lloyd, the Dutch insurer that is planning a 1 billion euro ($1.09 billion) rights issue to shore up its solvency, on Monday said it intends to pay a 130 million euro cash dividend over 2016.

In a letter, the company asked shareholders to approve the large cash call, first announced in November, at an extraordinary meeting on March 16.

Delta Lloyd said it had considered alternatives to the share issue, such as gradually building up capital or drastically reducing risk, but decided that those options would endanger the position of shareholders.

Copyright Reuters, 2016