Consultants Aon and Willis Towers Watson received shareholder approval for their merger, set for completion in the first half of 2021.
Shareholders voted for all proposals at the firms' extraordinary general meetings and at a special meeting of WTW shareholders ordered by the High Court of Ireland, a news release said Wednesday.
Upon completion of the merger, WTW shareholders are set to receive 1.08 Aon shares in exchange for each WTW share they hold.
The two firms announced March 9 their intention to combine in an all-stock $30 billion deal, creating an $80 billion firm. The merger is subject to regulatory approval.
"On behalf of Aon's board of directors and executive team, I would like to thank our shareholders for their overwhelming support of the proposed combination with Willis Towers Watson,"Aon CEO Greg Case said in the release. "Our combination, which will accelerate innovation and strengthen our capability to provide more relevant solutions for clients, has only become more important through the COVID-19 pandemic. The events of 2020 are illustrative of the exact type of transformative long-tail risk our new organization will be best positioned to address, creating significant value for clients, colleagues, and shareholders."
Mr. Case and Aon Chief Financial Officer Christa Davies will lead the combined firm, with WTW CEO John Haley becoming executive chairman.
Aon had $3.52 trillion in institutional assets under advisement and WTW had $2.6 trillion as of June 30, 2019, according to Pensions & Investments' latest data. The combined firm still will trail Mercer, which had assets under advisement of $15.04 trillion as of that date.
