Taiwan Approves Aon – Willis Towers Watson Merger

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission has given its approval to Aon’s acquisition of and merging with rival Willis Towers Watson (WTW), stating that it does not feel it will restrict competition in the marketplace.

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) is the entity responsible for competition policy and regulation and like so many other country-specific competition authorities, has been analyzing the Aon and WTW deal to see if it would have any detrimental impact on competition in its local market.

Following a comprehensive consultation, the TFTC stated that it has found the Aon WTW merger will “not significantly restrict competition or benefit” for participants in its marketplace.

As a result, “The combination of Aon plc and Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company is not prohibited,” the Commission explained.

The TFTC stated that Aon and WTW’s businesses overlap in the disciplines of insurance brokerage services, reinsurance brokerage services, retirement welfare services, health and welfare consultancy and human capital consultancy in the country.

On insurance and reinsurance brokerage services, the TFTC consulted with market participants and large protection buyers, as well as industry authorities, finding that although Aon and WTW are comparable rivals in Taiwan, “there were still other competitors who could continue to exert competitive pressure after the combination.”

As well, buyers of insurance and reinsurance are deemed to have strong bargaining power and plenty of experience to deal with the resulting combination and find the alternatives that the TFTC states do exist.

In the retirement welfare services, health and welfare, and human capital consultancy space, the TFTC consulted with Aon and WTW clients, who all stated there are plenty of options in the market there and no issues with a restriction of competition because of the merger.

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