Towers Watson

Towers Watson & Co.
Traded as TW
Industry Professional services
Predecessor Towers Perrin
Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Founded 2010
Headquarters Arlington, Virginia, United States
Area served
Global
Key people
John J. Haley
(Chairman, President, and CEO)[1]
Products Employee benefits, talent management, rewards, and risk and capital management
Revenue Increase US$ 3.60 billion (2013)[2]
Profit Increase US$ 319 million (2013)[2]
Number of employees
14,500 (2012)[3]
Parent Willis Towers Watson
Website www.towerswatson.com

Towers Watson & Co. was a global professional services firm. Its principal lines of business were risk management and human resource consulting. It also had actuarial and investment consulting practices. In January 2016, Towers Watson merged with Willis Group to form Willis Towers Watson.

Overview

Towers Watson was formed on January 4, 2010, by the merger of Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt Worldwide. The merger created the world's largest employee-benefits consulting firm by revenue. Towers Watson has 14,000 employees in 35 countries and is expected to have revenue of US$3.6 billion per year.[2] Towers Watson's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board is John Haley, the former CEO of Watson Wyatt. The firm's first Chief Operating Officer, President, and Deputy Chairman was Mark Mactas, the former CEO of Towers Perrin.[4]

History

Towers Watson is the successor to R. Watson & Sons, which was formed in the UK in 1878.[5] B. E. Wyatt founded The Wyatt Company as an actuarial consulting firm in the USA with seven co-founders in 1946. The two firms formed a global alliance under the brand Watson Wyatt Worldwide in 1995 and formally merged in August 2005.[5]

Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby was established in the U.S. in 1934, although one of its predecessor firms, the insurance broker Henry W. Brown & Co., was founded in 1871. In 1987, the company shortened its name to Towers Perrin.[6]

On June 28, 2009, the two firms announced they would merge, pending approval by shareholders and regulatory agencies, in a merger of equals.[7][8] Regulatory approval was granted by anti-trust divisions of the U.S. and the E.U.,[9] and stock-owners overwhelmingly approved the merger in separate meetings on December 18.[10]

In November 2010, it was announced that Towers Watson had signed a definitive agreement to acquire EMB Consultancy. EMB specialized in property & casualty consulting. EMB also had software dealing with pricing, reserving, spatial smoothing analysis, capital and risk modelling.[11] The deal was completed as of February 1, 2011.[12]

Merger

Main article: Willis Towers Watson

On June 30, 2015, Towers Watson announced it would merge with Willis Group to create Willis Towers Watson. The combined company operates in 120 countries, with a workforce of approximately 39,000 employees, revenues of $8.2 billion[13] and a value of $18 billion.[14] This merger was approved by both firms' shareholders on December 11, 2015.[15] The merger was concluded on January 5, 2016, after all regulatory approvals were received.

References

  1. "Leadership of Towers Watson". Towers Watson.
  2. 1 2 3 "Financial Highlights of Towers Watson 2013 Annual Report". Towers Watson.
  3. Cowan, Lynn (January 4, 2010). "Towers Watson Executives See Growth Ahead For Merged Firms". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  4. Hughes, Emma Ann (January 4, 2010). "Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt complete merger". FT Adviser. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Our History". Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  6. "History". Towers Perrin. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  7. "Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt to Combine to Form Towers Watson". Watson Wyatt Worldwide and Towers Perrin. June 28, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  8. Pichardo-Allison, Raquel (June 29, 2009). "Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt to merge". Global Pensions. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  9. Stapleton, Jonathan (December 4, 2009). "Towers Perrin / Watson Wyatt merger cleared by European Commission". Global Pensions. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  10. Pichardo-Allison, Raquel (December 22, 2009). "Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt shareholders approve merger". Global Pensions. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  11. "Towers Watson to acquire EMB's global operations". New Statesman. November 11, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  12. "Towers Watson completes acquisition of EMB". Towers Watson. February 1, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  13. "Willis Group and Towers Watson Announce Merger to Create Leading Global Advisory, Broking and Solutions Firm", 30 June 2015.
  14. "Willis and Towers Watson to merge in $18B deal". CNBC. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  15. Flaherty, Michael; Subba, Nikhil (December 11, 2015). Baum, Bernadette; Dasgupta, Shounak, eds. "Towers Watson, Willis merger gets shareholder nod". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
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