Aon is selling again.

Its goal: Obtain regulatory approval of its takeover of Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The European Commission is not the only agency that fears that the merger of the two giants will squelch competition in the insurance and reinsurance markets that they serve. The Australian authorities and the United States Department of Justice (USDJ) have also expressed reservations about the deal.

Two more sales agreements  

“To address certain questions” raised by the USDJ, Aon announced on June 3 that it has signed an agreement to sell its U.S. retirement business to the American private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners. The broker also committed to sell the Aon Retiree Health Exchange business to Alight Solutions, which was part of Aon Hewitt until 2017.

As part of the Aquiline deal, Aon will divest its U.S. pension administration business, its U.S. core retirement consulting business, the U.S.-based portion of its international retirement consulting business, and many solutions and tools, including Risk Analyzer.

If the buyout is approved  

Aquiline and Alight will pay Aon total gross consideration of US$1.4 billion for its businesses. However, as with the other agreements signed, Aon will proceed with the sale only if it gets the green light to acquire Willis Towers Watson.

The broker aimed to complete the purchase of WTW in the first six months of 2021. It now says it is targeting a closing “as soon as possible in the third quarter” of this year.