Investing.com - Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WLTW) surged in midday trading after a report that Aon (NYSE:AON) is preparing to make a bid for the company in what could be one of the biggest deals in the sector.
Citing people familiar with the deal, Bloomberg reported that the companies have held preliminary talks but no further decision has been made.
Willis Towers currently has a market cap of about $23.5 billion.
Willis Towers jumped 5.3% while Aon fell 3.3%.
Elsewhere, Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) slipped 0.6%, while Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) was down 0.4% and Arthur J Gallagher (NYSE:AJG) rose 0.4%.
The SPDR S&P Insurance (NYSE:KIE) ETF was down 0.2%