Willis Group Set to Issue IPO, Redomesticate in Bermuda.Willis Group Holdings Ltd., London, has said it plans to make an initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The company is an entity formed for the purpose of redomesticating the ultimate parent of the Willis Group from the United Kingdom to Bermuda. Willis, the world's third-largest insurance broker behind Aon Corp. and Marsh & McLennan, was purchased by buyout specialist Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (commonly referred to as KKR) is a New York City-based private equity firm that focuses primarily on late-stage leveraged buyouts. It was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. in 1998, when the brokerage was known as Willis Corroon. At the time, it was a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. , but KKR KKR Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (method) KKR Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts & Co. KKR Kalkara (postal locality, Malta) KKR Kramers-Kronig Relations KKR Komarappa Gounder Ramalingam (hospital in India) and a group of insurance companies took Willis private. The move to go public again may be the first step by KKR to eventually sell Willis, said equity analyst Gary Ransom of Conning & Co., although Willis said in its release that KKR wouldn't sell any of its majority stake in the IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. . Ransom said that when Marsh bought another large U.K.-based insurance broker, Seclgwick, also in 1998, that eliminated the only speedy way of building Willis to the size of Marsh or Aon. "If you're a venture capitalist Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. looking for an exit, this is as good a time as any. I would look at this as a first step in an exit strategy," he said. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion