DATASORA

Aon will buy USI Insurance Services from KKR and other shareholders for $17 billion, one of the largest insurance brokerage deals in years. Close is targeted for Q4 2026; Mike Sicard will lead Aon’s middle-market platform.

• Net price about $16.7bn after $278m of tax attributes — roughly 14.5x synergized TTM adjusted EBITDA.
• Aon cites $395m of annual run-rate net adjusted EBITDA from revenue and cost synergies; accretion to adjusted EPS in 2028.
• Builds on Aon’s NFP purchase and doubles down on U.S. middle market versus Marsh and Gallagher.

Desk note — For Sompo this is a distribution event, not just a broker scoreboard. A combined Aon–NFP–USI middle-market machine will concentrate casualty, property, and specialty flow — and will expect panel capacity, product breadth, and claims service in return.

Aon confirmed the $17 billion purchase price for USI and framed the deal as the next build-out of its U.S. middle-market franchise after NFP.

• USI brings roughly $3bn of revenue, 10,500 employees, and about 200 offices.
• Greg Case called it the greatest value-creation chance of his 20-year tenure.
• KKR exits a 2017 platform investment — a rare full-sale of a scaled PE broker.

Desk note — Watch appointment strategy. Middle-market construction, WC, and package business is exactly the SME lane Sompo just doubled down on with Service Insurance Companies.

The 68th Rendez-Vous de Septembre runs 5–9 September 2026 at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo — the largest gathering in (re)insurance ahead of January 1 renewals.

• Welcome desk opens 2:30 p.m. Saturday, 5 September.
• AM Best’s reinsurance briefing is Sunday 6 September, 10:15–11:45 CEST at the Hermitage.
• This is the first Monte Carlo where Sompo counterparties will underwrite the combined Sompo + Aspen franchise in person.

Desk note — Go to Monte Carlo with a one-page on Aspen integration, Service Insurance, construction appetite, and 1/1 casualty retro. The room will ask.

Gallagher Re bundled AI liability, data-center, cyber, and digital risk engineering into a single practice as brokers industrialize tech-risk placement.

• The practice sits inside Gallagher Re, not only retail — treaty and facultative clients are in scope.
• Data-center property and AI liability are colliding with traditional CAT and casualty panels.
• Follows Gallagher’s AssuredPartners digestion and its climb to the world’s third-largest broker.

Desk note — Sompo’s specialty and Aspen cyber / management-liability capabilities need a clear answer when Gallagher Re shops these risks in the fall.