Financial Astrology of Aon Corporation

FINANCIAL ASTROLOGY

First Trade Date for Aon Corporation

Company Name	First Trade Date (yyyy-mm-dd)
Aon Corporation	1987-04-24

Company Name	Symbol
Aon Corporation	AOC
History and Business of Company (this information may include date of incorporation)
The Registrant is a holding company whose operating subsidiaries carry on business in three distinct operating segments: (i) insurance brokerage and other services; (ii) consulting; and (iii) insurance underwriting. Incorporated in 1979, it is the parent corporation of long-established and more recently formed companies. The Insurance Brokerage and Other Services segment consists principally of Aon's retail, reinsurance and wholesale brokerage, as well as related insurance services, including claims services, underwriting management, captive insurance company management services and premium financing. These services are provided by certain indirect subsidiaries of the Registrant, including: Aon Risk Services Companies, Inc.; Aon Holdings International bv; Aon Services Group, Inc.; Aon Re Worldwide, Inc.; Aon Limited (U.K.); and Cananwill, Inc., which are subsidiaries of Aon Group, Inc. (Aon Group). The Consulting segment provides a full range of human capital management services utilizing five practices: employee benefits; compensation; management consulting; outsourcing; and communications. These services are provided primarily by subsidiaries and affiliates of Aon Consulting Worldwide, Inc., which is also a subsidiary of Aon Group. Aon's Insurance Underwriting segment is comprised of supplemental accident and health and life insurance and extended warranty and casualty insurance products and services. Combined Insurance Company of America ("Combined Insurance") engages in the marketing and underwriting of accident and health and life insurance products. Combined Specialty Insurance Company (formerly known as Virginia Surety Company, Inc.) and London General Insurance Company Limited offer extended warranty and casualty insurance products and services. In November 2000, the Registrant announced a business transformation plan, which began in fourth quarter 2000 and was completed in 2002. The transformation plan affected each operating segment; however, most changes affected the largest operating segment, Insurance Brokerage and Other Services, and occurred in the major countries of operation, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. In April 2001, the Registrant announced a plan to spin off its insurance underwriting businesses to Aon's common stockholders, to create two independent, publicly-traded companies. In August 2002, the Company announced that it was no longer planning to spin off all of the underwriting businesses, but was considering a sale or partial spin-off. At that time, a sale of all or part of the underwriting operations, at an acceptable price, was believed to be achievable within a reasonable timeframe, especially given unsolicited buying interest in the past. While the Registrant received indications of interest in the underwriting businesses, none were in an acceptable price range due to the unfavorable mergers and acquisitions environment resulting from volatile capital markets. Proceeds from a sale of such businesses would have allowed Aon to pay down short-term debt, but would have resulted in unacceptable earnings dilution. A spin-off of part of the underwriting operations was determined to be impractical due to capital requirements. Therefore, on October 31, 2002, the Registrant announced that it had decided not to sell, or spin off, its major underwriting subsidiaries. In fourth quarter 2002, the Registrant announced its plans to sell Sheffield Insurance Corporation, a small property-casualty company, which was completed in first quarter 2003. In February 2003, the Registrant announced that it would be discontinuing its accident and health insurance underwriting operations in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, as well as its large company group life business in the U.S. The Registrant will pursue a "back to basics" strategy in the accident and health insurance business, where the focus will be on core products and regions with the best returns on investments. During 2002, the Registrant incurred approximately $50 million of expenses related to the planned divestiture of its insurance underwriting businesses which included costs related to the expanded corporate and underwriting staff that was added in contemplation of the divestiture. These costs, recorded primarily in general expenses in the consolidated statements of income, represent staff buildup and severance costs, corporate overhead and advisory fees and other costs tied to the specialty property and casualty underwriting initiatives which will not be pursued. In November 2002, the Registrant completed a public offering of 36.8 million shares of its common stock, raising net proceeds of approximately $607 million. The offering was made pursuant to an existing shelf registration statement. Also in November 2002, the Registrant completed a separate private offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of 3.5% senior convertible debentures due 2012. Net proceeds from this offering were approximately $296 million. The debentures are unsecured obligations and, under certain circumstances, are convertible into common stock at an initial conversion price of approximately $21.475 per common share. The debentures were sold to qualified institutional buyers. In January 2003, the Registrant filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register the resale of the debentures. In December 2002, the Registrant completed a private offering of $225 million aggregate principal amount of 7.375% senior notes due 2012. Net proceeds from this offering were approximately $223 million. The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers. The Registrant used the net proceeds from these offerings to repay outstanding commercial paper and other short-term debt, to partially repurchase certain debt securities that were due in 2003 and 2004 and to repurchase $98 million of the Registrant's 8.205% Mandatorily Redeemable Preferred Capital Securities. In January 2003, a portion of the remaining funds were utilized to repay $150 million of maturing LIBOR + 1% debt securities.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: By reading any of the material on this website you agree to our DISCLAIMER: The Magi Society, Magi Astrologers Worldwide Corporation make no claims whatsoever concerning the validity of the information provided herein, and will not be held liable for any use thereof. No information or opinion expressed here is a solicitation to buy or sell securities, bonds, real estate, commodities, options, futures or any financial instruments whatsoever.