Onex of Canada agreed on Monday to buy USI, an insurance brokerage firm, from a Goldman Sachs's private equity fund for $2.3 billion.
USI, which is based in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., sells products like property and casualty insurance and employee benefits and is one of the 10 biggest insurance brokers in the United States. It has been an active buyer in recent years, having struck about 30 deals in the past five years, according to Standard & Poor's Capital IQ.
Goldman's merchant banking arm bought the firm in 2007 for about $993 million.
“USI has established a strong national insurance brokerage with a very impressive management team led by Mike Sicard,†Robert Le Blanc, an Onex managing director, said in a statement. “The company is well positioned to continue to grow both organically and by building on its track record of successful acquisitions.â€
It is the second deal for an insurance brokerage firm in three days. Last Friday, Kohlberg Kr avis Roberts agreed to buy Alliant Insurance Services from the Blackstone Group for an undisclosed sum.
Onex, a publicly traded private equity firm with $14 billion in assets under management, will finance the deal with about $700 million in equity.
Goldman was counseled by the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
