Aon has agreed to sell its US retirement business to Aquiline and its Retiree Health Exchange business to Alight for a combined total of $1.4bn (£986.8m).

The firm said that the deals provided further momentum on its path to complete its proposed merger with Willis Towers Watson (WTW).

The transactions are intended to address questions raised by the US Department of Justice regarding the merger with respect to the markets the companies participate in, with Aon and WTW continuing to seek regulatory approval in all relevant jurisdictions for the combination.

In its purchase of Aon’s US retirement business, Aquiline will acquire Aon’s US core retirement consulting, US pension administration and the US-based portion of Aon's international retirement consulting business.

Alight will acquire Aon’s Retiree Health Exchange, which is an individual market solution that aims to better support employers and their retirees.

"These agreements further accelerate our momentum to close our proposed combination with WTW," said Aon CEO, Greg Case.

"These are very capable teams that have demonstrated exceptional dedication to our clients and our firm. I want to recognise their contributions and reinforce that we are confident they will have similar opportunities with Aquiline and Alight."

Aquiline chairman and CEO, Jeff Greenberg, added: "The retirement solutions sector is benefiting from an increased focus on long-term investment security and risk management of plans.

"Aquiline's significant experience across retirement and investments positions us to build on the strong business Aon has created.”

Last month, Aon agreed to sell its retirement and investment business in Germany to LCP to move closer to merging with WTW.

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