History
The company was founded by Henry Willis in London in 1828, and initially operated as Henry Willis & Co. In 1898 it merged with Faber Brothers (founded in 1886) to form Willis Faber, and then in 1928 it merged with Dumas & Wylie (founded in 1843) to create Willis, Faber & Dumas. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1976 as Willis Faber.
It expanded into the United States in 1990 when it merged with Corroon & Black (founded as R. A. Corroon & Co. in 1905) to form the Willis Corroon Group. In 1998 in a leveraged buyout the Company was acquired by Trinity Acquisition on behalf of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and in 1999 the name Willis Group was adopted. It was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001.
Willis moved into the Willis Building, its new London headquarters, in May 2008.
In October 2008, Willis acquired Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Co. (HRH), one of the largest insurance and risk management intermediaries in North America and this has boosted their North American presence, as well as acquired Glencairn LImited which has augmented its Lloyd's of London Market strength.
The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the Willis Tower in July 2009. Willis secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of space in the 3,800,000-square-foot (350,000 m2) tower. It was the world's tallest building from 1974 until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Willis announced plans in 2009 to relocate its registered office from Bermuda to Ireland. Its shareholders approved the move in December 2009, and the company announced on 31 December 2009, that its reorganisation has been completed and the new parent company of the Willis Group – known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company – is incorporated in Ireland.
Read more about this topic: Willis Group Holdings
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