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Aon Signs Definitive Agreement to Sell Culture, Engagement, and Leadership Development & Advisory Businesses to Spencer Stuart

LONDON (17 April, 2019) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell certain businesses within its talent practice, specifically its Culture & Engagement, Leadership Development & Advisory and related products and services to Spencer Stuart, a leading executive search and leadership advisory firm. Today’s announcement represents the evolution of Aon’s portfolio to better serve clients’ emerging needs and drive profitable growth. In line with other transactions Aon has made, this pending sale is designed to help accelerate investments in core growth areas and improve the return on invested capital for shareholders.

“Aon’s investment strategy is centered on growth areas that support its vision to be a pre-eminent professional services firm,” said Cary Grace, CEO of Aon’s Retirement & Investment Solutions. “Selling the Culture, Engagement, and Leadership Development & Advisory businesses provides an opportunity for Spencer Stuart to create greater value for clients, given their focus on talent and leadership. In return, Aon has additional opportunities now to further focus its investments on new and enhanced solutions on behalf of our clients.”

Aon will remain in the talent business focused on its Rewards, Assessment and Performance capabilities that help organizations manage their people risks. Connecting the firm’s people analytics to Aon’s broader risk analytics leads to new sources of client value while demonstrating the power of Aon United across solutions.

“As a prominent player in the talent and human capital space, Aon will continue to focus on our clients’ needs through solutions that have both strategic and growth alignment,” said Michael Burke, CEO of Aon’s Talent, Rewards & Performance business. “Rewards, Assessment and Performance solutions also strategically align with other high-growth businesses across Aon. We have invested in market-leading capabilities and solutions and will continue to aggressively expand our capabilities in these areas to meet the evolving demands of our clients.”

Over the last three years, Aon acquired cut-e and CoCubes, two leaders in online talent assessments, to expand Aon’s assessment and selection capabilities globally. Investments in Aon’s rewards solutions, including its McLagan and Radford practices, support its market-leading position and create opportunities to expand across multiple industries. As the firm continues to build its performance solutions, clients will more easily identify opportunities to reshape their organizations and improve shareholder value. Aon is well-positioned to anticipate technological advances, find the right people to drive digital transformation, and offer rewards packages that create a magnetic pull for top talent. By delivering this integrated portfolio of solutions and leveraging its deep data and analytics, Aon can better prepare clients for the workforce of the future.

Details of the agreement were not publicly disclosed.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

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Media Contact:
Nadine Youssef, nadine.youssef@aon.com

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