Towers Watson & Co. was a global professional services firm that provided risk management services, human resource consulting, actuarial services, and investment management. The company operated in 37 countries. Customers included 92% of Fortune Global 500 companies and 84% of Fortune 1000 companies. In 2016, the company was acquired by Willis Group in a merger of equals to form Willis Towers Watson.

History

Towers Watson was formed on January 4, 2010, by the $4 billion merger of equals of Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt Worldwide. The merger created the largest employee-benefits consulting firm by revenue worldwide. Watson Wyatt Worldwide was formed by the 1995 alliance and 2005 merger between R. Watson & Sons (founded in 1878 by Reuben Watson) and The Wyatt Company (founded in 1946 by Birchard E. Wyatt). Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby was established in the U.S. in 1934: in 1987, the company shortened its name to Towers Perrin. In February 2011, Towers Watson acquired EMB Consultancy. EMB specialized in property & casualty consulting. EMB also had software dealing with pricing, reserving, spatial smoothing analysis, capital and risk modelling. In May 2012, the company acquired Extend Health, a provider of health-care insurance services and the operator of the largest private Medicare health insurance marketplace, for $435 million. In September 2013, IBM signed a contract to use the Extend Health platform for insurance services for it U.S retirees. In November 2013, the company sold its reinsurance brokerage business to Jardine Lloyd Thompson for $250 million. That month, it also acquired Liazon, operator of the Bright Choices private health insurance marketplace, for $215 million. In May 2015, the company acquired Acclaris, a provider of software and services for consumer-driven health care and reimbursement accounts such as health savings accounts, for $140 million. In July 2015, the company sold its human resources service delivery practice to KPMG. In September 2015, the company acquired Brovada Technologies for $15 million. In 2016, the company was acquired by Willis Group in a merger of equals to form Willis Towers Watson.