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>Aon Purchases Gallagher Re

Aon Corp. has acquired Gallagher Re?s U.S. and U.K. reinsurance brokerage business. The agreement included an initial payment of $30 million, and an additional payment for revenues generated in the 12 months after the transaction close date.The acquisition occurred after Gallagher announced it was putting the company up for sale as part of a larger cost-cutting plan.

Brown & Brown Inc. opened its first unit outside the United States on March 1. Based in London, Decus Insurance Brokers Ltd. has divisions for property/casualty brokerage, professional liabilityand binding authority programs. The London unit of the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based firm is headed by CEO Anthony T. Strianese, a former senior member of the North American team of Peachtree Special Risk LLC.

>Gallagher Acquires Splinter

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Park Ridge, Ill.-based retail insurance broker, The Splinter Group. Splinter offers its Midwest clients risk management services and commercial property/casualty, employee benefits and personal-lines insurance, specializing in the construction and manufacturing industries.

>Willis Consults on China Dam

Willis Group Holdings has been designated as the insurance consultant for the Three Gorges Project in China. The world?s largest hydropower project spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping and will generate enough electricity to power a city four times the size of Los Angeles. The dam can lift 10,000-ton, oceangoing vessels the 371 feet necessary to pass upstream and travel to Chongqing, a region rich in manufactured and agricultural goods. The project will be fully operational by 2011.

>Former Willis SVP Arrested

Kenneth MacKay has been charged with embezzling and stealing more than $2.2 million from Willis Management (Vermont) Ltd. and its clients. MacKay, 36, a former senior vice president in Willis?s Vermont-based captive management operation, was fired in February after working at the company for 11 years. The statement from the U.S. attorney?s office said that MacKay, who appeared in federal court on March 3, created a shell corporation and used it to divert and launder money at Willis for funding college savings plans for his children; a $1.9 million home in Williston, Vt.; and a condominium in Orlando, Fla.

>Lockton to Plan Retirements

Lockton Cos. has created a retirement services practice for corporate and not-for-profit organizations in its Chicago office, to be headed by Doug Morris. The practice will provide consulting services on investment policy statement drafting, vendor search and evaluation, fee benchmarking and negotiation, plan design, employee communications, and mergers-and-acquisitions due diligence.

--Compiled by staff from news and company releases.

April 15, 2008

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