Itasca, Ill.-based insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said yesterday it had completed the $45 million sale of Gallagher Re to Aon Corporation after finalizing the sale of the United Kingdom division.
The United States portion of the sale of Gallagher Re to Aon was completed on Feb. 22. Gallagher said the United Kingdom transaction was subject to certain conditions that have been met.
Gallagher announced it was putting Gallagher Re up for sale at the end of January. The sale of the unit to Chicago-based insurance brokerage Aon was announced in late February.
Analysts appeared to like the move, commenting that to make the unit profitable in the future it would require too high an investment from Gallagher.
About 50 associates were to move from Gallagher Re to Aon as a result of the sale.
When the transaction was announced, Michael D. O'Halleran, executive chairman of Aon Re Global, said the purchase would give Aon a larger presence in the U.S. accident, health and life markets and increase its capabilities in the U.K. specialty, casualty and financial institutions businesses.
He said Gallagher Re has invested significantly in index-based capital markets solutions (a form of catastrophe securitization), which will add to Aon's capital markets team.
The sale also helped Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brown establish its first overseas office in London with four Gallagher Re executives joining Brown & Brown's new venture, Decus Insurance Brokers Limited. A Brown & Brown executive said the departure of the four executives was an amicable arrangement worked out with Gallagher.
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