Willis Towers Watson Shares Rise on Aon Takeover Talk

   By Colin Kellaher

Shares of insurance broker Willis Towers Watson PLC (WLTW) rose more than 6% Tuesday amid reports that rival Aon PLC (AON) is preparing a takeover bid.

Aon is considering making an offer for Willis Towers, which has a market capitalization above $22 billion, in the coming weeks in what could be the industry's largest ever merger, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of Willis Towers were up 6.3% to $183.94 in late morning trading Tuesday, while Aon shares slipped 3.1% to $165.32.

An acquisition of Willis Towers potentially could help Aon to overtake Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) as the world's largest brokerage by revenue, Bloomberg reported.

But Marsh also has a pending deal, having agreed in September to buy U.K. insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC (JLT.LN) for $5.7 billion.

Aon and Willis Towers have held preliminary talks, but no final decision has been made, and Aon could walk away, according to the Bloomberg report.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2019 12:11 ET (17:11 GMT)

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