Aon PLC A

Sustainable Growth Advisers (SGA) sold its stake in Aon during Q2, citing a softer insurance-pricing environment that is pressuring revenue growth for brokerages despite Aon’s strong operational performance. SGA characterized Aon as high-quality and resilient but chose to redeploy capital into a more attractive long-term growth opportunity in Arista Networks. The move came as SGA’s U.S. Large Cap Growth strategy underperformed broad growth benchmarks in Q2. » More on finance.yahoo.com

Aon agreed to acquire USI for $17 billion in cash and plans to fund the deal with new debt across multiple maturities. Management expects $395 million of annual run-rate net adjusted EBITDA from $321 million of revenue synergies and $280 million of cost savings, with adjusted EBITDA accretion projected in 2028 after initial dilution in 2027. The net purchase price implies about 14.5 times synergized trailing adjusted EBITDA and will raise Aon’s leverage to roughly 4.8x at closing, with a return to a 2.8–3.0x target within ~24 months dependent on execution. Key risks include integration execution, regulatory delays, client disruption, and high transaction and integration costs. » More on finance.yahoo.com

S&P Global Ratings has lowered Aon’s outlook from stable to negative, while confirming the issuer rating at A-. The move is driven by the planned acquisition of USI, which Aon intends to finance with about $17.5 billion of new debt and which would raise pro‑forma leverage to roughly 4.3–4.5x. S&P warns of a possible downgrade within 24 months if Aon does not meet its deleveraging targets; a return to stable would be possible if the targets are met or the transaction is called off. » More on de.investing.com