Key Takeaways
- Aon is nearing a $17 billion acquisition of insurance brokerage USI.
- KKR acquired USI for $4.3 billion, including debt, in 2017.
- The proposed deal would mark another major KKR portfolio exit.
Aon Plc is close to an agreement to acquire USI From KKR for about $17 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the discussions. The deal could be announced as early as Monday if negotiations are successfully completed.
Aon Moves Toward Major Insurance Brokerage Acquisition
The proposed transaction would bring USI, a major insurance brokerage based in Valhalla, New York, under London headquartered Aon. The discussions remain ongoing, and the final terms could still change before any agreement is announced.
USI provides insurance brokerage and risk management services to businesses and individuals. The company has expanded its operations since KKR and Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired it from Onex Corporation in 2017.
The 2017 transaction valued USI at approximately $4.3 billion, including debt. KKR subsequently invested more than $1 billion in the business and became its largest shareholder.
A deal valued at about $17 billion would represent a significant increase from USI’s 2017 transaction value. The proposed figure also includes the company’s debt, making the total enterprise value higher than the equity value that shareholders would receive.
Neither Aon nor USI had immediately commented on the reported discussions. KKR also declined to comment on the potential transaction.
The proposed acquisition comes as insurance brokerages continue to consolidate and expand their scale across commercial insurance, risk management, and related services. Aon operates across insurance brokerage, reinsurance, retirement, and other professional services.
For Aon, acquiring USI would add another established brokerage operation to its business. USI serves customers across several insurance categories and has developed a broad network of offices and industry specialists in the United States.
KKR Advances Portfolio Exit Activity
A potential deal to acquire USI from KKR would provide the private equity firm with another major portfolio exit following several recent sales. KKR has been actively reducing or reshaping holdings across diverse sectors as it continues to realize investments.
KKR and Caisse acquired USI from Onex in 2017. At the time, the transaction included debt and represented a major investment in the insurance brokerage sector.
Since then, KKR has supported additional investment in USI, with more than $1 billion reportedly committed after the acquisition. The proposed $17 billion valuation would place the business at a substantially higher value than its original purchase price.
The potential sale also follows KKR’s exit from CoolIT, a company focused on data center cooling technology. KKR has also sold the commercial and defense aerospace unit of Circor as part of its broader portfolio activity.
The USI transaction remains subject to the completion of negotiations. If an agreement is reached, it would rank among the larger insurance brokerage transactions and add to the recent flow of major deals involving established financial services businesses.
For Aon, a strategic move to acquire USI from KKR would expand its position in the US insurance brokerage market, while offering KKR a significant realization from an investment made nearly a decade ago.
The proposed $17 billion transaction places both companies at the center of another major deal in the global insurance services sector.
