(Bloomberg) -- Willis Group Holdings Plc, the insurance broker that’s merging with consulting firm Towers Watson & Co., advanced in New York trading after it was named to join the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Willis climbed 4.8% to $49.30 at 9:45 a.m., the most in the 330-member S&P North American Financial Services Sector Index, after rising about 5% this year through Monday. The broker will replace Fossil Group Inc. in the index after regular trading on Jan. 4, S&P said in a statement Monday. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2016, when Willis Towers Watson Plc will trade under the ticker symbol WLTW.
Related: Towers Watson approves $8.9 billion Willis deal; share jump
Willis agreed in June to combine with Towers Watson in a deal valued at more than $8 billion, helping it compete with larger rivals Aon Plc and Marsh & McLennan Cos. Investors approved the transaction this month, and the combined company expects to increase shareholder value by about $4.7 billion through reduced expenses, cost savings and higher revenue, according to a July regulatory filing.
The transaction offers “strategic benefits,” Jay Gelb, an analyst at Barclays Plc, said in a Dec. 8 note to clients. “Willis’s proposed merger with Towers Watson would transition Willis from a pure-play insurance broker to adding capabilities in employee benefits and health exchanges.”
The revision in the index may prompt money managers to shift holdings. More than $7 trillion is benchmarked to the gauge, according to S&P. Fossil, a maker of watches and other fashion items, will replace Towers Watson in the S&P MidCap 400.
Please give us a Like on Facebook!
Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.