Onex Agrees to Buy USI From Goldman Fund for $2.3 Billion
Onex Corp. (OCX), Canada’s largest publicly traded buyout firm, agreed to buy USI Insurance Services LLC from a fund run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) in a transaction valued at $2.3 billion.
The deal includes a $700 million equity investment by Onex Partners III fund, the Toronto-based company said today in a statement. Employees of the Briarcliff Manor, New York-based insurance broker will remain “significant” investors in USI, which has about 100 offices in the U.S.
Private-equity firms are buying insurance-services companies for their steady cash flow and low capital needs. KKR & Co. agreed on Nov. 23 to purchase brokerage Alliant Insurance Services Inc. from Blackstone Group LP for an undisclosed amount. Last month, a group led by CVC Capital Partners Ltd. said it would acquire insurance-claim adjuster Cunningham Lindsey Group Ltd. in a deal valuing the company at as much as $1 billion including debt.
USI “is well positioned to continue to grow both organically and by building on its track record of successful acquisitions,” Robert Le Blanc, a managing director at Onex, said today in the statement. USI, which has 3,300 employees, is the ninth-largest insurance broker in the U.S., according to its website.
The buyout unit of New York-based Goldman Sachs acquired USI in 2007 in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
Morgan Stanley advised Onex, and Kaye Scholer LLP provided legal advice. GS Capital Partners received financial advice from RBC Capital Markets LLC, and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal counsel. The companies expect the deal to close by the end of the year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at spasternak@bloomberg.net; Devin Banerjee in New York at dbanerjee2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net; Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
Onex Buys USI Insurance From Goldman Fund for $2.3 Billion
Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Pedestrians pass in front of 200 West Street, which houses the headquarters of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in New York.
Pedestrians pass in front of 200 West Street, which houses the headquarters of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in New York. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.