Marsh & McLennan sells Kroll to former chief exec
MARSH & McLennan agreed to sell investigations unit Kroll to a firm led by former Marsh chief executive Michael Cherkasky for $1.13bn, less than the amount the insurance broker paid for it six years ago.
MMC said yesterday it plans to sell Kroll — a corporate sleuth and intelligence expert that has expanded into risk management and other areas — to Altegrity, a Virginia-based security solutions firm backed by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, in an all-cash deal.
The Kroll acquisition is expected to close by late September.
Private equity firms are eager to do new deals after spending 18 months fixing companies and are encouraged by improving economic conditions and better availability of debt.
The deal value is made up of $760m debt, a source close to the deal said, with the remainder equity.
Cherkasky, chief executive of Altegrity, will be reunited with Kroll , which he led from 2001 to 2004. Cherkasky was ousted as MMC chief executive in late 2007 after producing disappointing results.