Aon announced the firm has signed definitive agreements to sell its U.S. retirement business to Aquiline and its Aon Retiree Health Exchange™ business to Alight for total gross consideration of $1.4 billion.
The agreements are intended to address certain questions raised by the U.S. Department of Justice in relation to the combination with respect to the markets in which these businesses are active. Aon and Willis Towers Watson continue to work toward obtaining regulatory approval in all relevant jurisdictions.
“These agreements further accelerate our momentum to close our proposed combination with Willis Towers Watson,” said Greg Case, Aon’s CEO. “These are very capable teams that have demonstrated exceptional dedication to our clients and our firm. I want to recognize their contributions and reinforce that we are confident they will have similar opportunities with Aquiline and Alight.”
The Aon Retiree Health Exchange™, which Alight will acquire, is an individual market solution that better supports employers and their retirees. It was the first retiree exchange to meet the National Council on Aging (NCOA) standards and continues to meet or exceed those rigorous standards of excellence in consumer education and health insurance brokerage services for people with Medicare.
Alight leverages its proprietary AI and data analytics to optimize business process as a service (BPaaS) to deliver superior outcomes for employees and employers across a comprehensive portfolio of services. Alight allows employees to enrich their health, wealth and work while enabling global organizations to achieve a high-performance culture. Helping clients of all sizes, including 70 percent of the Fortune 100, Alight’s 15,000 colleagues serve more than 30 million employees and family members.
All of the announced regulatory divestitures are contingent on the completion of the pending Aon and Willis Towers Watson combination, as well as other customary closing conditions. While Aon and WTW are working toward completing the proposed combination as soon as possible in the third quarter of 2021, the completion remains subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and clearances, including with respect to United States antitrust laws, as well as other customary closing conditions.