(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group LP, CVC Capital Partners and KKR & Co. are among suitors that have made first-round bids for Onex Corp.'s USI Insurance Services, according to people familiar with the matter.
The initial offers value the Valhalla, New York-based insurer at more than $4 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The sale process may attract interest from other bidders as well, the people said. Toronto-based Onex is working with Bank of America Corp. to advise on the process, one of the people said.
Onex, Canada's largest buyout firm, bought USI from a fund run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2012, in a transaction valued at $2.3 billion. USI has since made more than 30 acquisitions to increase its network of insurers across the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Representatives for KKR, Carlyle and CVC declined to comment, while a representative for Onex didn't respond to a request for comment.
USI, founded in 1994, now has more than $1 billion in annual revenue and 4,400 employees in 140 offices across the U.S., according to its website. It offers a portfolio of diversified insurance and financial services to its customers.
Onex has been actively divesting parts of its portfolio, returning about $1.7 billion to the firm and its limited partners since the start of 2016, according to its latest financial results. It spun off window and door maker Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. in a January initial public offering that raised $661.3 million.
Onex also has been an active acquirer. It agreed to buy Parkdean Resorts, a U.K. operator of caravan holiday parks, for about $1.7 billion in December. That acquisition followed its $1.37 billion purchase of discount grocery chain Save-A-Lot Inc. in October.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kiel Porter in New York at kporter17@bloomberg.net, Scott Deveau in Toronto at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wollman
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