Watson Wyatt Worldwide was formed by the 1995 alliance and 2005 merger between R. Watson & Sons (founded in 1878 by Reuben Watson) and The Wyatt Company (founded in 1946 by Birchard E. Wyatt).[6][7][8][9] Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby was established in the U.S. in 1934: in 1987, the company shortened its name to Towers Perrin.[6]
In February 2011, Towers Watson acquired EMB Consultancy. EMB specialized in property & casualty consulting. EMB also had software dealing with pricing, reserving, spatial smoothing analysis, capital and risk modelling.[10][11]
In May 2012, the company acquired Extend Health, a provider of health-care insurance services and the operator of the largest private Medicarehealth insurance marketplace, for $435 million.[12][13] In September 2013, IBM signed a contract to use the Extend Health platform for insurance services for it U.S retirees.[14]
In November 2013, the company sold its reinsurance brokerage business to Jardine Lloyd Thompson for $250 million.[15][16] That month, it also acquired Liazon, operator of the Bright Choices private health insurance marketplace, for $215 million.[17]
In May 2015, the company acquired Acclaris, a provider of software and services for consumer-driven health care and reimbursement accounts such as health savings accounts, for $140 million.[18][19]
In July 2015, the company sold its human resources service delivery practice to KPMG.[20]
In September 2015, the company acquired Brovada Technologies for $15 million.[21][22]
