Aon plc agreed to acquire USI Insurance Services from KKR and other shareholders for $17 billion in cash, the companies confirmed this week, in a deal that ranks among the largest insurance-brokerage transactions on record. The price equates to roughly $16.7 billion after accounting for tax attributes and represents about 14.5 times USI's synergized trailing-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA, according to a joint announcement from KKR.
USI, based in Valhalla, New York, is the tenth-largest insurance broker in the United States, generating roughly $3 billion in annual revenue through close to 200 offices and more than 10,500 employees. The firm sells property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk and retirement services primarily to mid-sized businesses — the segment Aon is targeting with the deal.
Financed entirely with new debt
Aon plans to fund the acquisition entirely through new borrowing and said it will suspend share buybacks to preserve its current credit ratings, Baa2 at Moody's and A- at S&P, according to deal terms reported by Insurance Business. The company expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval, and projects roughly $395 million in annual run-rate synergies once integration is complete. Aon said the deal would begin adding to adjusted earnings per share starting in 2028.
We see this having a financial impact almost immediately.
Greg Case, Aon CEO
Case framed the acquisition as an extension of capabilities Aon already has into a market it estimates at more than $40 billion — over a third of total U.S. commercial property-and-casualty premium — where the company has historically been underrepresented relative to larger corporate accounts. USI Chairman and CEO Mike Sicard will become president of Aon and global chief executive of its middle-market segment, reporting directly to Case.
For KKR, the sale caps a lucrative run with USI: the private equity firm said the price represents roughly six times its original equity investment and about 3.4 times its total capital committed to the company, generating an estimated $3.3 billion in after-tax proceeds. The transaction adds to a busy year of insurance-brokerage consolidation, as large players continue to compete for scale in a fragmented market of independent local and regional agencies.
