Aon Benfield Re: GoodBedfellas

One plus one equals three in this deal, declares Michael O'Halleran, executive chairman of Aon Re Global. He is talking about his firm's recent acquisition of rival reinsurance broker Benfield for pound(s)935m ($1.75bn). O'Halleran's arithmetic may be fanciful but the deal certainly creates the most dominant player the reinsurance broking market has ever seen. The combined entity's revenues are equivalent to 45% of the global reinsurance broking market, according to Citi Investment Research, with Aon holding 27% of 2007 revenues and Benfield 18%. This leaves Guy Carpenter trailing far behind with 25% and Willis Re with 17%. The big four has just become the big three. The deal had been discussed for a number of years by Grahame Chilton, chief executive officer of Benfield since 1996, and Greg Case, who was appointed chief executive officer of Aon in 2005.