ING Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund -- Underwriters Exercise Purchase of Additional 1,300,000 Shares of the Fund; Total Raise-up Increases to $396 Million

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ING Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund (NYSE: IDE) (the Fund) announced today that Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as a representative for the Fund's underwriters, has notified the Fund that it is exercising its right to purchase an additional 1.3 million shares of the Fund's common stock pursuant to the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters in connection with the Fund's initial public offering. The closing of this transaction is scheduled to occur on March 17, 2010, subject to standard closing conditions. With the closing of this additional purchase of shares, the Fund's total raise-up in its initial public offering will be an aggregate of $396 million, or 19.8 million shares.

Prior to this exercise, the Fund had raised $370 million in an initial public offering led by Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, UBS Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. on January 29, 2010.

The Fund is managed by ING Investments, LLC and draws upon a team of experienced investment professionals at ING Investment Management Co. ("ING IM"), the Fund's sub-adviser.  

ABOUT ING INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT  

ING Investment Management is a leading global asset manager. As of December 31, 2009, we manage approximately euro 343 billion of assets for institutions and individual investors worldwide, and we serve as the principal asset manager of ING Group, the global financial services company. With over 3,300 employees and an investment presence in 33 countries across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, ING Investment Management provides clients with access to domestic, regional and global investment solutions.

ABOUT CLOSED-END FUNDS  

Closed-end funds like the Fund do not continuously offer shares for sale and are not required to buy shares back from investors upon request. Shares of closed-end funds trade on national stock exchanges and, like other securities, share prices will fluctuate with market conditions and at the time of sale may be worth more or less than the original investment.

This Fund has no historical performance. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate, and shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Please log on to www.ingfunds.com in order to view the initial prospectus or to obtain historical performance when available.

Principal Risk Factors:

Not FDIC Insured | Not NCUA/NCUSIF Insured | May lose value | No bank guarantee | No credit union guarantee

No Prior History - The Fund is a newly organized, diversified closed-end management investment company with no history of operations or public trading of its Common Shares.

Market Discount Risk - Shares of closed-end management investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value (NAV), and the Fund's Common Shares may likewise trade at a discount to their NAV. The trading price of the Fund's Common Shares may be less than the public offering price at any point in time. Common Shareholders who sell their shares within a relatively short period after completion of the public offering are likely to be exposed to this risk. Accordingly, the Common Shares are designed primarily for long-term investors, and investors in the Common Shares should not view the Fund as a vehicle for trading purposes.

Infrastructure-Related Investment Risk: Because the Fund invests in infrastructure companies, it has greater exposure to potentially adverse economic, regulatory, political and other changes affecting such companies. Infrastructure companies are subject to a variety of factors that may adversely affect their business or operations including interest rates and costs in connection with capital construction projects, costs associated with environmental and other regulations, the effects of economic slowdowns, surplus capacity, increased competition from other suppliers of services, uncertainties concerning the availability of necessary fuels, energy costs, the effects of energy conservation policies and other factors.  Infrastructure companies may be subject to the following additional risks: Regulatory Risk, Technology Risk, Regional or Geographic Risk, Natural Disasters Risk, Through-Put Risk, Project Risk, Strategic Asset Risk, Operation Risk, Customer Risk, Interest Rate Risk and Inflation Risk.

Industrials Sector Risk - The industrials sector can be significantly affected by general economic trends, including employment, economic growth, and interest rates, changes in consumer sentiment and spending, the supply of and demand for specific industrial and energy products or services, commodity prices, legislation, government regulation and spending, import controls, and worldwide competition. For example, commodity price declines and unit volume reductions resulting from an over-supply of materials used in industrials and energy equipment & services industries can adversely affect those industries. Furthermore, a company in the industrials sector can be subject to liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.

Materials Sector Risk - The materials sector can be significantly affected by the level and volatility of commodity prices, the exchange value of the dollar, import controls, and worldwide competition. At times, worldwide production of materials has exceeded demand as a result of over-building or economic downturns, which has led to commodity price declines and unit price reductions. Companies in the materials industries can also be adversely affected by liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control, labor relations, and government regulations.

Option Risks - There are numerous risks associated with transactions in options. A decision as to whether, when and how to write call options under the Fund's strategy involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived transaction may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected events.

When a call option sold by the Fund is exercised or closed out, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities or to deliver portfolio securities to the option purchaser to satisfy its obligations when it would not otherwise choose to do so, or the Fund may choose to sell portfolio securities to realize gains to offset the losses realized upon option exercise. Such sales or delivery would involve transaction costs borne by the Fund and may also result in realization of taxable capital gains, including short-term capital gains taxed at ordinary income tax rates, and may adversely impact the Fund's after-tax returns.

The Fund cannot guarantee that its call option strategy will be effective.

Issuer Risk - The value of securities held by the Fund may decline for a number of reasons that directly relate to the issuer, such as changes in the financial condition of the issuer, management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods and services. The amount of dividends paid may decline for reasons that relate to an issuer, such as changes in an issuer's financial condition or a decision by the issuer to pay a lower dividend. In addition, there may be limited public information available for the Sub-Adviser to evaluate foreign issuers.

The Fund may also be subject to the following categories of risk: Foreign Investment and Emerging Markets Risk,  Equity Risk, Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Companies Risk, Investment and Market Risk, Derivatives Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Illiquid Securities Risk, Distribution Risk, Tax Risk, Foreign (non-U.S.) Currency Risk, Portfolio Turnover Risk, Management Risk, Initial Public Offering Risk, Depositary Receipts Risk, Securities Lending Risk, Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk, Current Capital Markets Environment Risk, Anti-Takeover Provisions, No Temporary Defensive Positions Risk, Sub-Custody Risk, Short Sales Risk, Preferred Stock Risk, Convertible Securities Risk, High-Yield Lower-Grade Debt Securities Risk and Leverage Risk. For a complete listing of all the Fund's risks with their descriptions, please refer to the Prospectus.

Important legal information

Certain of the statements contained herein are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements. These expectations are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, among other things, (i) general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) interest rate levels, (vii) currency exchange rates (viii) general competitive factors, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, (x) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (XI) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (XII) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies. ING assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document.

SOURCE ING