Willis Towers Watson
 |
|
| Public limited company | |
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: WLTW S&P 500 component |
| Predecessors |
Willis Group Towers Watson |
| Founded | 5 January 2016 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
|
Key people
|
John Haley (CEO), James McCann (chairman) |
| Products | Risk management, Insurance brokerage, Advisory & Actuarial services |
|
Number of employees
|
39,000 |
| Website | Willis Towers Watson |
Willis Towers Watson is a global multinational risk management, insurance brokerage and advisory company.
Willis Towers Watson operates in more than 120 countries, has a workforce of more than 39,000 employees and revenues of $8.2 billion. It has joined the Hedge Fund Standards Board and follows the voluntary code of standards of best practice endorsed by its members.
Willis Towers Watson was formed as a merger of equals between London based Willis Group Holdings plc and Arlington, VA based Towers Watson & Co.
The merging companies announced the merger on 30 June 2015 in a deal valued at $18 billion. Willis Towers Watson would maintain its domicile in Ireland lowering taxes and list on the . Later in 2015 the company moved its domicile to Virginia in The US and delisted from The NYSE and relisted on The NASDAQ.
Critics to the deal pointed out that the original offer would not be beneficial to Towers Watson shareholders as they would receive package of shares and a special cash dividend that is valued at $125.13 per share. This value was 9.3% lower than the trading price of Towers Watson's stock as at the time of the announcement of the deal. The revised offer in November increased the value to $130.26 per share, which was still lower than the trading price of Towers Watson shares at the time of the announcement. The deal also gives Willis Group shareholders more control despite the firm having a lower market capitalization compared to Towers Watson.
In an open letter, investment adviser Driehaus Capital Management urged Towers Watson shareholders to vote against a proposed merger. Driehaus argued that Towers Watson was worth between 39% and 53% more as a standalone company than by merging with Willis Group. It was also reported that Towers Watson CEO John Haley had disposed of his shares in the company in early March 2015 while the merger negotiations were ongoing.
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Wikipedia