Willis Towers Watson
| File:Willis Towers Watson logo.png | |
| 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.[1]
Contents
Overview
Wills Towers Watson operates in more than 120 countries, has a workforce of more than 39,000 employees and revenues of $8.2 billion.[2]
History
Willis Towers Watson was formed as a merger of equals between London based Willis Group Holdings plc and Arlington, VA based Towers Watson & Co.[3]
Merger process
Rationale
The merging companies announced the merger on 30 June 2015[1] in a deal valued at $18 billion.[3] Willis Towers Watson would maintain its domicile in Ireland lowering taxes and list on the New York Stock Exchange. Later in 2015 the company moved its domicile to Virginia in The US and delisted from The NYSE and relisted on The NASDAQ.
Criticism
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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[4]
In an open letter, investment adviser Driehaus Capital Management urged Towers Watson shareholders to vote against a proposed merger.[6] Driehaus argued that Towers Watson was worth between 39% and 53% more as a standalone company than by merging with Willis Group.[7] 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.[8]
On November 18, 2015, the board of Towers Watson failed to get enough investor support for deal with only 40% of their shareholders voting for the proposed merger with Willis Group.[9] This rejection led to Willis Group increasing its special cash dividend for Towers Watson shareholders to USD 10 per share. This revised offer was approved by Towers Watson shareholders on December 11, 2015.[10]
Completion
The merger was closed on 5 January 2016 once all regulatory approvals were received. Willis Towers Watson publicly announced their name change on 5 January. It is the day 1 of the company as Willis Towers Watson.[11][12] Willis Group shareholders owned 50.1% while those of Towers Watson shareholders owned 49.9% of the combined company.[13]
On completion, Towers Watson CEO, John Haley, became the CEO, Willis Group CEO, Dominic Casserley, became the President and Deputy CEO while Willis Group Chairman, James McCann, became the chairman of the merged group with the twelve board seats shared equally between the two companies.[14]
For the first fiscal quarter of 2016, the first earnings release since the merger completed, Willis Towers Watson reported that merger and acquisition costs remain significant and are likely to total between $150 million and $175 million.[15]
External links
References
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