Aon, Willis Towers Watson Scrap Roughly $30 Billion Deal After Impasse With Justice Department
July 26 2021 - 8:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Dave Sebastian
Aon PLC and Willis Towers Watson PLC said they have agreed to
terminate their roughly $30 billion deal and end litigation with
the U.S. Department of Justice, which said the combination would
eliminate competition in several different U.S. product
markets.
"We reached an impasse with the U.S. Department of Justice," Aon
CEO Greg Case said Monday. "The DOJ position overlooks that our
complementary businesses operate across broad, competitive areas of
the economy."
"The inability to secure an expedited resolution of the
litigation brought us to this point," Mr. Case said.
Aon said it would pay a $1 billion termination fee to Willis
Towers Watson.
The European Commission earlier this month cleared the proposed
acquisition of Willis Towers Watson by Aon, its rival, subject to
meeting certain commitments offered by Aon over potential
competition breaches. The European Union's antitrust authority said
the commitments include the divestment of central units of Willis
Towers Watson to brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher, which would improve
the brokerage's footprint in the European Economic Area.
Aon and Willis Towers Watson announced their deal in March 2020.
The brokerages help companies buy insurance and advise them on risk
management. Both companies are also major consultants to businesses
on health and other benefit packages for their employees.
Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2021 08:29 ET (12:29 GMT)
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