Willis Towers licks wounds of failed mega-merger with a board shakeup
Willis Towers Watson has appointed four new directors, as the company tries to move forward after a failed mega-deal with Aon earlier this year.
The new directors at the London-listed company include the former chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, Inga Beale and industry veterans Fumbi Chima, Michael Hammond and Michelle Swanback.
The business, which has come under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, also announced that chairman Victor Ganzi would not be standing for re-election at an annual shareholder next year.
The news comes just months after Willis Towers and Aon were forced to take a $30bn (£22.9bn) merger, which would have created the world’s largest insurance broker, off the table after pushback from US regulators.
Aon cited an “impasse” with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the reason behind the decision to scrap the business combination agreement and end litigation with the DOJ, 16 months after the deal was first announced on 9 March 2020.
If the merger had gone ahead, London-headquartered Aon would have overtaken the third of the big three, Marsh & McLennan, as the world’s biggest insurance broker.
Instead Aon paid $1bn in termination fees to Willis Towers Watson, and the two firms agreed to “move forward independently.”