Aon/Benfield merger

CRA competition consultants provided economic analysis and support to reinsurance brokerages Aon and Benfield in connection with their merger. Following presentations and submissions by CRA’s team and counsel for the parties, the US and European antitrust authorities respectively concluded that neither a second request in the US nor an in-depth investigation in Europe were necessary. The merger was allowed to proceed without conditions in both jurisdictions. In reaching these decisions, the antitrust agencies concluded that, while Aon and Benfield have historically been among the largest providers of “reinsurance brokerage services,” the primary insurers to which Aon and Benfield provide their services had access to many alternatives to the merging parties, including other reinsurance brokers, direct purchase (bypassing the need for brokers), and alternative risk transfer mechanisms such as capital market instruments.