Aon is on the hunt for more major acquisitions following its £700m takeover approach for rival broker Benfield last week.
Aon's chief financial officer Christa Davies has indicated that Aon has enormous balance sheet flexibility and that its cash flow could be used for more deals.
It is understood that Aon intends to use some of its cash toward dividends to shareholders as well as paying down pensions and other business opportunities.
However one primary use of its annual cash flow currently about $1 billion would be continued mergers and acquisitions.
Last week Aon acquired Benfield in a $1.4 billion deal and will have cash remaining on its balance sheet that it plans to use to complete an existing share repurchase authorization of $885 million by the end of 2009.
Aon's chief executive officer, Greg Case said Aon Benfield Re would serve the majority of the insurance and reinsurance carriers globally. He said it has deeper penetration in the United States, particularly in the Southeast property catastrophe market, where Benfield has a strong presence.
Aon is the largest insurance broker in the world, with 2007 brokerage revenue of $6.1 billion, according to Best's Review's annual broker rankings. Its Aon Global Re unit is the top reinsurance broker worldwide, with 2007 brokerage revenue of $958 million. Best's Review ranks Benfield as the world's third-largest reinsurance broker, with 2007 brokerage revenue of $656.7 million.
