1. Aon sells large chunk of benefits business
Posted On: Dec. 26, 2017 8:59 AM CSTAon P.L.C. slimmed down and refocused its operations in 2017 with the sale of its employee benefits outsourcing business.
The $4.8 billion deal with Blackstone Group L.P. unwound a significant part of its 2010 purchase of Hewitt Associates Inc. The story about the deal was the most read Risk Management story on Business Insurance’s website in 2017.
Aon CEO Greg Case said the deal would allow the firm to focus on risk, retirement and health advice and data.
According to analysts, the business being sold accounted for about 66% of Hewitt’s business at the time it was bought by Aon, which would have accounted for about $3.23 billion of the original purchase price.
Three months after the deal was struck, the firm announced that Aon Hewitt CEO Kristi Savacool would lead the transition of the business to Blackrock and then leave Aon at the end of the year.
In its first-quarter financial report, Aon revealed it expected $400 million in annual savings from the sale and that close to 2,000 jobs would be eliminated as it restructured.