CHICAGO-Aon Corp., a professional services broker with more than 61,000 employees worldwide, said this morning that it will move its corporate headquarters to London. To placate its current home city, the company said it has signed a letter of intent for a 15-year lease to keep the downtown office as an Americas HQ.

The company said in a statement that the move provides greater access to emerging markets and gets them closer to a big client, Lloyd’s, and other major insurance and risk brokerage markets in London. Greg Case, CEO, said in the statement that the move will help drive the company’s global strategy and strengthen growth opportunities. “The continued investment in our international operations and emerging markets is important to the growth of our firm,” Case said.

Chicago won’t really lose in the move, according to the company, because the firm will keep its current offices at the Aon Center downtown as its Americas headquarters. Eric Anderson will be the Americas CEO. Aon recently signed a 15-year lease at the building, where it is the main tenant and employs 6,000 people. A spokesman for Jones Lang LaSalle, which represents Aon Center owner Piedmont Office Realty Trust, tells GlobeSt.com that he cannot comment on the recent lease.

Aon promised to add another 1,000 employees throughout the United States this year. “The move will not cause job loss in either Chicago or the United States,” according to the statement.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement that he’s pleased Aon will add 750 jobs to the area through additional needs and office consolidations. “While I am sorry to see the official headquarters move to London, Aon remains an outstanding corporate citizen in Chicago and we look forward to their continued growth and investment in the City's business landscape,” the mayor said.

The company has about 6,000 employees already in London, and is the main sponsor of the Manchester United soccer team. In May Aon announced it preleased 10 of the bottom floors of the 48-story 122 Leadenhall St. tower, also known as the Cheese Grater building because of its angular shape. A company spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that employees that are moving overseas, including Case, CFO Christa Davies and fewer than 19 other executives, will move into this building in 2014. The new building is located next door to the Lloyd’s headquarters.

London has been undergoing a strong office market despite the European debt troubles, possibly because of the coming Olympic Games (in an ironic twist, Aon founder and retired executive chairman Pat Ryan was the chairman and CEO of the failed Olympic bid committee for Chicago). The spokesman says the troubles mean more business for Aon. “The level of risk is rising all around the world, and we’re in the business of managing risk and turning it into opportunity,” he says.

The move, which includes changing the incorporation from Delaware to England, must be approved by a company shareholder vote. Each stockholder will receive one Class A Ordinary Share of the newly formed English public limited company in exchange for each share of common stock of Aon. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.

Instant Insights /

Aon Keeps Chicago Presence, Will Move HQ Overseas

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