Aon Buys USI Insurance Services from KKR

Aon PLC announced Monday its plans to buy USI Insurance Services from alternative investment firm KKR & Co. Inc., in an all-cash, $17 billion transaction.

USI’s sale price is approximately six times the size of KKR’s original equity investment in the insurance broker and 3.4 times KKR’s total investment in USI.

USI Chairman and CEO Mike Sicard will serve as president of Aon and global CEO of the company’s middle-market segment. He will report to Greg Case, Aon’s president and CEO.

USI, which is a provider of employee benefit and retirement solutions for the middle market, as well as property and casualty and personal risk solutions, is the parent company of USI Consulting Group, a retirement-plan-focused subsidiary. Headquartered in Valhalla, New York, USI has approximately $3 billion in annual revenue and more than 10,500 employees in nearly 200 U.S. offices.

USI has served as both an annuity provider and a consultant in the pension risk transfer market. In the first half of 2026, USI Consulting Group completed 40 annuity placement pension risk transfer transactions, totaling $567 million, covering approximately 7,600 plan participants, the company announced in July.

The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Aon and USI and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

“USI’s combination with Aon represents a transformative opportunity for the future,” said Sicard, in a statement. “We’ve had a great long-term partnership with KKR for nearly a decade—together we have invested in our team, our culture and our technology to build the USI platform into what it is today. We are excited to begin the next chapter with Aon and want to thank our partners at KKR for their tremendous support of USI.” 

Aon expects $395 million in annual run-rate, net-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization [EBITDA] and to increase its adjusted earnings per share by 2028. 

“Combining with USI will establish the premier U.S. middle-market platform, deepen our context advantage and position Aon to accelerate organic growth,” said Case, in a statement. 

As the largest shareholder, KKR said that it expects to recognize approximately $3.3 billion of after-tax proceeds and about $2 billion of adjusted net income. USI was KKR’s first core private equity investment and part of the company’s strategic holdings portfolio. 

Under KKR’s ownership, USI nearly tripled its revenue and made more than 90 acquisitions, according to KKR’s statement.

According to Aon’s statement, the deal will expand the company’s presence in the excess and surplus areas of commercial insurance and builds on its previous $13.4 billion acquisition of NFP, announced in 2023. Last October, Aon sold NFP’s five wealth businesses to Madison Dearborn, a previous owner of NFP, for $2.7 billion. The five entities relaunched as a single platform, Wealthspire, the following month.

In 2023, KKR fully acquired annuity and insurance provider Global Atlantic Financial Group LLC.