Towers Watson Merger Suit Revived by Divided Delaware High Court

Former Towers Watson & Co. CEO John J. Haley must face a challenge to the company’s $18 billion merger-of-equals with Willis Group Holdings PLC, which put Haley at the helm of risk management giant Willis Towers Watson PLC and quintupled his pay, a divided Delaware Supreme Court ruled, reviving the case.

The Towers board “would have found it material that its lead negotiator had been presented with a compensation proposal having a potential upside of nearly five times his compensation” during “an atmosphere of deal uncertainty,” Justice Karen L. Valihura wrote for the court.

The 4-1 ruling late Tuesday reverses ...