Willis Group Holdings, today announced that it has completed the purchase of 100 percent of the share capital of Herzfeld Willis S.A. (Retail operation) and Willis S.A. (Reinsurance operation) in Argentina. The business will now be known as Willis Argentina S.A. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Willis established a presence in Argentina in 1999 by acquiring 20 percent of Herzfeld & Levy, a leading national insurance broker, to become Herzfeld Willis, and setting up Willis S.A., a reinsurance company in which the Group took a 60 percent stake, with the remaining 40 percent owned by two private individual investors. In 2000, Willis acquired a further 20 percent stake in Herzfeld Willis and then in 2004, became the majority shareholder of Herzfeld Willis by acquiring a further 20 percent stake to move to an overall 60 percent holding. The latest deal sees Willis increase its stake to 100 percent in both the retail and the reinsurance operations.
Eugenio Paschoal, Chief Executive Officer for Willis Latin America, said: “We have taken full ownership of Willis Argentina because we see excellent growth prospects in this country and are committed to becoming the leading broker there. We have ambitious expansion plans for Latin America as a whole and a strong foothold in Argentina will help us maintain the double-digit growth momentum that we have built up in the region.”
Fabiana Scalone, Chief Executive Officer of Willis Argentina S.A., said: “Together with Willis, we have developed a dynamic hub of insurance and reinsurance broking expertise in Argentina. By coming fully under the Willis umbrella, we believe that our clients will continue to benefit from high-touch local service, backed by the extensive global resources and expertise of one of the world’s leading broker power houses.”
Willis Argentina has 130 Associates located in its office in Buenos Aires. All told, the global broker has 26 offices throughout Latin America in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
