The deal would fold a private equity-owned mid-market broker into the world's second-largest global insurance broker, capping an eight-year hold for its owner.
Aon is close to an agreement to acquire USI Insurance Services from KKR for approximately 17 billion dollars, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. KKR has owned USI since 2017.
If it closes at the reported price, the transaction would rank among the largest insurance brokerage deals of the year, folding a sizable mid-market broker into an already dominant global platform. For KKR, it would mark a strategic exit from a business it has held for nearly a decade.
Neither company has confirmed the transaction publicly, and the deal is described as close to an agreement rather than signed. That distinction matters because terms on unsigned transactions can still change, and a deal of this size would likely draw regulatory scrutiny given the concentration already present in commercial insurance brokerage.
Aon's stock closed modestly higher heading into the weekend, a move that predates the deal reporting rather than reflecting a market reaction to it because U.S. equity markets were closed when the reports emerged.
An official announcement from either company would be the first direct confirmation. Once terms are signed, the longer-term question will be how much the acquisition changes the competitive balance among the handful of brokers that dominate commercial insurance placement and what the price says about private equity exit valuations in the sector.