$2 Billion Buyout of Claims Processor Sedgwick Close to Complete

KKR & Co., the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, is nearing an agreement to buy Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. from Hellman & Friedman LLC and Stone Point Capital LLC for more than $2 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the process.

The buyout may be announced as soon as Jan. 27, said the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Kristi Huller, a spokeswoman for New York-based KKR, declined to comment on a possible deal.

The acquisition would be KKR’s second in about four months of a company that processes claims related to workers’ compensation, auto collisions and unemployment. KKR in September agreed to buy Mitchell International Inc. from private-equity firm Aurora Capital Group in a transaction valued at about $1.1 billion including debt, a person with knowledge of the deal’s value said at the time.

Buyout firms Hellman & Friedman and Stone Point Capital acquired Memphis, Tennessee-based Sedgwick in 2010 for about $1.1 billion from Fidelity National Financial Inc. and private- equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Evercore Capital Partners. The business was previously owned by insurance brokerage and risk-management company Marsh & McLennan Cos.

The New York Post reported earlier today that KKR is close to an agreement to buy Sedgwick.

(Editors: Josh Friedman, Christian Baumgaertel)