BX Blackstone Inc

By Joshua Jamerson 

Aon PLC said Friday it reached an agreement to sell its human resources outsourcing platform to Blackstone Group L.P. for $4.3 billion, establishing the unit as a new stand-alone company.

Under the terms of the deal, Aon could receive up to $500 million in additional proceeds based on future performance. The transaction, subject to antitrust clearance, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017.

Blackstone said Aon's technology-enabled benefits and human resources platform, currently part of Aon Hewitt, is the largest benefits administration platform in the U.S.

Aon said it expects the transaction to improve its return on invested capital and add to adjusted earnings in 2018, citing deployment of free cash flow from operations and transaction proceeds, savings from operating model improvements and a lower effective tax rate.

"The sale of our outsourcing platform creates incremental capital to strengthen growth in core operations, and accelerates the pursuit of inorganic growth opportunities that address emerging client needs, similar to recent acquisitions in cyberrisk advisory and health brokerage solutions," said Greg Case, Aon's chief executive.

Aon also reported results for the fourth-quarter. Aon reported net income of $502 million, down 14% from $584 million a year ago. On an adjusted, per-share basis, the firm earned $2.56 a share. Analysts, polled by Thomson Reuters, expected $2.49 a share. Revenue rose 1% to $3.32 billion, as analysts expected $3.41 billion.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2017 07:25 ET (12:25 GMT)

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