New York-based USI Insurance Services might soon be under new management, as private equity firm KKR & Co. and Canadian fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) are nearing a deal to jointly acquire it for about $2 billion.
The deal would value USI at about $4 billion including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. USI has over $1 billion of annual revenue with more than 4,400 associates in over 140 offices across the country, according to its website. It is currently owned by Toronto-based Onex.
Onex has been working with Bank of America to auction USI, Reuters reported. It bought the insurance firm from Goldman Sachs’ private-equity arm for $2.3 billion, including debt in 2012. USI has since made more than 30 acquisitions to increase its network of insurers across the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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According to ONEX, it has approximately $24 billion of assets under management, including $6 billion of proprietary capital, in private equity and credit securities.
Other firms have made first-round bids in the auction, Bloomberg reported. These include Carlyle Group CVC Capital Partners.
Onex has been actively divesting parts of its portfolio. This has returned about $1.7 billion to the firm and its limited partners since the start of 2016, according to its latest financial results.
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