On 9 March it was announced that Aon the World’s second largest insurance broker in the world would by Willis Towers Watson, the third largest broking firm. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval involves all-stock US$30 billion purchase of Willis Towers Watson which would create a US$80 billion enterprise. Doubts about whether the coronavirus outbreak would hinder the mega-merger deal have been lessened by the fact that the merger is not due for completion until mid-2021.
For the time being Marsh & McLennan remains the largest insurance broker in the world. It took over the broker JLT in 2019, however during that deal EU competition authorities insisted that its aerospace division was not included as it put too much power in this class into a single broking basket. The result was that the aerospace team was split off and it was bought instead by the smaller broker Gallaghers.
A similar competition factor – depending on insurance class – may also come into play with respect to the Aon-Willis Towers Watson mega deal. Willis Towers Watson does have a long history in insurance broking in many classes with the original Willis firm acting as broker for both the Titanic liner loss and for Hindenberg airship crash.
Willis Towers Watson also operates a specialist space insurance division called Willis Inspace. This is currently owed US$1.9 million by OneWeb – the low Earth orbit constellation which recently entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Seradata understands that this money is actually premium collected for underwriters for a future launch which would have had to be paid back anyway if the launch does not happen. While a relatively small amount, with so many launch delays delaying premium in the current coronavirus outbreak, and with some in-orbit claims imminently expected, every bit counts.
