Aon has agreed to acquire USI Insurance Services from private equity firm KKR and other shareholders in a deal valued at $17 billion, the company announced.
USI is the tenth-largest insurance brokerage in the United States, generating roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. The firm employs more than 10,500 people across nearly 200 domestic offices and provides commercial property and casualty coverage, employee benefits, personal risk advisory, and retirement services.
Aon traces its modern history to 1982, when Patrick Ryan’s Ryan Insurance Group merged with Combined International Corporation, creating a much larger insurance and financial-services organization. In 1987, the company adopted the name Aon, a Gaelic word associated with “oneness” or “unity.” Aon expanded rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s through acquisitions, including major insurance broker Alexander & Alexander in 1996. The company gradually shifted away from directly underwriting insurance and toward brokerage, consulting and risk-management services. Major acquisitions included reinsurance broker Benfield Group in 2008 and human-resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates in 2010 for about $4.9 billion. In 2012, Aon reorganized as Aon plc and moved its corporate headquarters to London, while continuing to maintain major operations in Chicago and around the world. Today, Aon is one of the world's largest professional-services firms specializing in commercial risk, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, employee benefits and human-capital consulting.
According to Yahoo Finance, the deal follows Aon's 2024 purchase of NFP and is intended to establish what the company called the premier platform in the large and growing U.S. middle-market segment. The acquisition also gives Aon broader access to the excess and surplus lines market through managing general agents, managing general underwriters, and wholesale distribution networks. That sector accounts for 26% of U.S. commercial property and casualty premiums.
Aon chief executive Greg Case said: "Combining with USI will establish the premier U.S. middle-market platform, deepen our context advantage and position Aon to accelerate organic growth. Building on the success of our acquisition of NFP, USI will substantially enhance our middle-market footprint and expand access for our firm in the E&S segment to deliver content, capabilities and expertise to a broader client base, while enabling client leaders to expand relationships and win new business."
Case added: "Our combined data platform will generate richer insight, advance the development of innovative, AI-driven solutions and expand the universe of insurable risk, while further reinforcing the context advantage that differentiates Aon."
One concrete result of the deal will be the integration of USI's proprietary analytics platform, known as USI ONE, into Aon's broader operating and technology infrastructure.
NFP was founded in 1999 and grew into a major insurance brokerage and consulting firm serving primarily middle-market businesses and individuals. Its services expanded to include property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, wealth management and retirement consulting.
Aon projects the transaction will generate around $395 million in annual run-rate net adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization through combined operational and revenue synergies. The company expects the acquisition to become accretive to adjusted earnings per share starting in 2028.
When the deal closes, Mike Sicard, the current chairman and chief executive of USI, will become president of Aon and global chief executive of middle market. He will report directly to Case and join the firm's executive committee.
The transaction represents one of the largest deals in the insurance brokerage sector in recent years and would significantly expand Aon's footprint in the middle market, a segment the firm has been targeting aggressively.
