The Wall Street Journal-20080118-Willis Seeks to Explore Marsh Deal
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Willis Seeks to Explore Marsh Deal
Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. sent a letter to its bigger rival Marsh & McLennan Cos. seeking to explore a possible deal uniting the two firms, according to people familiar with the matter.
Once the clear leader in the brokerage industry, Marsh was dealt a blow in 2004 by a bid-rigging probe led by then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. It has never fully recovered. The probe led to an $850 million settlement.
It isn't clear whether Marsh would be interested. Among the obstacles to a deal is that Marsh is searching for a new chief executive and is in the middle of an effort to turn around its core insurance brokerage, which has been at the heart of its struggles in recent years. In December, Marsh named a new head to that unit.
A spokeswoman for Marsh declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Willis said she wasn't authorized to comment. Willis's letter to Marsh was reported by CNBC.
