KKR ups stake in USI with $1B deal

USI Insurance Services LLC on Monday said that existing shareholder private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP is making a new equity investment of more than $1 billion in USI and will become its largest shareholder.

Terms of the transaction, expected to be completed by the end of 2023, were not disclosed.

New York-based KKR and Montreal-based Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec bought USI in March 2017 for $4.3 billion in partnership with USI’s management and employees.

Under the new deal, KKR and USI will purchase shares of USI held by CDPQ and certain other investors, with more than 50% of shares held by CDPQ to be purchased in the transaction, the closing of which will make KKR USI’s largest single shareholder, the broker said in a statement.

Other KKR insurance sector investments include a majority stake in Carlsbad, California-based program administrator Integrated Specialty Coverages LLC.