To proceed with their merger to form Towers Watson & Co
Towers Perrin, Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt Worldwide have been granted conditional clearance by the European Commission to allow the parties to proceed with their merger to form Towers Watson & Co.
The US antitrust authorities have previously cleared the transaction.
As part of the European Commission’s clearance decision, Watson Wyatt has declared to sell its life insurance actuarial software business, VIPitech. However, the European Commission has agreed that the merged company may retain a license to use the VIPitech software, which will allow it to continue to serve those clients that have implemented this software. Watson Wyatt is currently preparing the business for sale and will be issuing more information in due course.
John Haley, CEO of Watson Wyatt , who will serve as CEO of Towers Watson, said: “This is a key milestone in our progress toward completing the transaction that will bring together our two firms. We are very pleased to have received clearance from the Commission on a timescale which will allow the companies to continue plans to finalize the merger by the end of this year.”
The decision by the European Commission gives Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt the necessary regulatory approvals to complete the merger. However, the proposed transaction remains subject to additional conditions contained in the merger agreement, including the approval by the shareholders of Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt.