Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor,

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negotia ...

age and

reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own ins ...

brokerage company with its headquarters in the Willis Building in London until its merger of equals with financial services company Towers Watson in 2016. It was the world's third-largest insurance broker when measured by revenues. Willis has around 400 offices in 120 countries and approximately 18,000 employees. Willis was previously listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

before its early-2016 'merger of equals' with

Towers Watson 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 w ...

. After the deal closed, the combined company began trading on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

exchange under the symbol, WLTW (

: WLTW).

History

The company was founded by Henry Willis in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1828, and initially operated as Henry Willis & Co.Willis: History
/ref> In 1898 it merged with Faber Brothers (founded in 1886) to form ''Willis Faber'', and then in 1928 it merged with Dumas & Wylie (founded in 1843) to create ''Willis, Faber & Dumas''. It was first listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

in 1976 as Willis Faber. It expanded into the United States in 1990 when it merged with Corroon & Black (founded as R. A. Corroon & Co. in 1905) to form the Willis Corroon Group. In 1998 in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

the company was acquired by Trinity Acquisition on behalf of

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

, and in 1999 the name Willis Group was adopted. It was first listed on the

in 2001. In October 2008, Willis acquired Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Co. (HRH), one of the largest insurance and risk management intermediaries in North America and this has boosted their North American presence, as well as acquired Glencairn Limited which has augmented its Lloyd's of London Market strength. Willis announced plans in 2009 to relocate its registered office from

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to Ireland. Its shareholders approved the move in December 2009, and the company announced on 31 December 2009, that its reorganisation has been completed and the new parent company of the Willis Group – known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company – is incorporated in Ireland. In 2015, the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only t ...

held that the Group was entitled to an interim

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...

to prevent

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, also known as JLT Group or simply JLT, was a British multinational corporation that had its headquarters in London, England. It provided insurance, reinsurance, employment benefits advice and brokerage servic ...

, a competing firm of brokers, from unfairly recruiting its remaining staff. More than 20 employees, including nearly all senior staff in one department, had left Willis to work for JLT.

Merger

On 30 June 2015, Willis Group announced it would merge with

to form Willis Towers Watson. It was stated that the combined company operated in 120 countries, with a workforce of approximately 39,000 employees and revenues of $8.2 billion and a value of $18 billion. The merger was concluded on 5 January 2016 after all regulatory approvals were received.

Buildings

Willis moved into the Willis Building, its new London headquarters, in May 2008. The Willis Building in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, England, is one of the earliest buildings designed by

Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

after establishing Foster Associates. Constructed between 1970 and 1975 it is now seen as a landmark in the development of the 'high tech' architectural style. It is one of the youngest buildings to be given

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

status in Britain. The 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...

in July 2009. Willis secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease of space in the tower. It was the world's tallest building from 1974 until 1998, when it was surpassed by the

Petronas Towers The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, ( Malay: ''Menara Berkembar Petronas'') are 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1998 to 2003, they were officially desig ...

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, Malaysia.

Operations

Willis has 400 offices in more than 100 countries.Willis: The Willis Way
/ref>

Sponsorship

Willis Group was the sponsor of The Willis Resilience Expedition, a scientific program in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

to better understand

Global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and build resilience to weather-related risk.Five minutes with...teen polar explorer Parker Liautaud
Travel Bite, 30 September 2013

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Financial services companies established in 1828 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange British companies established in 1828 Financial services companies based in the City of London Insurance companies of the United Kingdom Risk management companies