Aon Withdraws Application For Willis Towers Watson Acquisition

Aon plc has formally withdrawn its application to the Commerce Commission for clearance to acquire Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company.

The Commission had been scheduled to make a decision on Aon’s clearance application by 20 August 2021.

Background

Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) are both publicly traded, global professional services firms that specialise in risk management.

In New Zealand, Aon and WTW both provide a range of broking services, including for commercial risk, reinsurance, group health and welfare benefits, and personal and life insurance. In addition, both firms provide investment consulting services to institutional investors.

Aon had sought clearance from the Commission for a transaction that would have seen WTW become a wholly owned subsidiary of Aon. However, the two firms announced on 26 July 2021 that they had agreed to terminate their business combination agreement.

We will give clearance to a proposed merger if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market. Further information explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on our website.
 

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