Aon, Willis Towers Watson call off $30bn merger after regulator blocks deal

Aon and  Willis Towers Watson's $30 billion merger deal has succumbed to the intense regulatory pressure, particularly from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that last months sued to  block the "harmful" merger of broking giants.  Aon CEO Greg Case (pictured left) and  Willis Towers Watson CEO John Haley (pictured right) have officially called off the deal.

The two firms have agreed to terminate their business combination agreement and end litigation with the US DOJ.

Aon and Willis have faced heavy antitrust scrutiny and criticism since announcing their $30 billion deal in March 2020. Earlier in June, the US DOJ had filed an antitrust lawsuit against the brokers asserting that their merger would eliminate vital competition in the market, resulting in higher prices, and reducing innovation for US businesses.

Aon CEO Case stated that the "inability to secure an expedited resolution of the litigation" has brought the two companies to this point.

"Despite regulatory momentum around the world, including the recent approval of our combination by the European Commission, we reached an impasse with the U.S. Department of Justice," he said.

Case still believes that "the DOJ position overlooks that our complementary businesses operate across broad, competitive areas of the economy. We are confident that the combination would have accelerated our shared ability to innovate on behalf of clients, but the inability to secure an expedited resolution of the litigation brought us to this point."

Case added that "over the last 16 months, our colleagues have turned potential challenges into opportunities to advance our Aon United strategy. We built on our track record of innovation, continued to deliver industry-leading performance and progress against our key financial metrics and move forward with the strongest colleague engagement and client feedback scores in over a decade. Our respect for Willis Towers Watson and the team members we've come to know through this process has only grown."

Willis Towers Watson CEO Haley said: "Our team's resilience and commitment are a source of pride and confidence. They have continued to bring to life Willis Towers Watson's compelling value proposition to better serve our clients in the areas of people, risk and capital."

He added: "Going forward, our focus remains steadfast on our colleagues, our clients and our shareholders. We believe we are well-positioned to compete vigorously across our businesses around the world and will continue to introduce important innovations to the market. We appreciate and deeply respect all the Aon colleagues we got to know through this process."

In connection with the termination of the business combination agreement, Aon will pay the $1 billion termination fee to Willis Towers Watson, Willis Towers Watson's proposed scheme of arrangement has now lapsed, and both organisations will move forward independently.

Both firms will provide further financial updates and outlooks on their respective Q2 2021 earnings calls, which take place on July 30 for Aon and August 3 for Willis Towers Watson.

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