Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ:TW), a leading global professional services company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aliquant, a privately held, full-service health and welfare benefits administration outsourcing firm. This acquisition reinforces Towers Watson’s ongoing commitment to remain the benefits administration provider of choice for organizations seeking high-quality outsourcing services.

The completion of the transaction, expected before the end of the year, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. This acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Towers Watson’s adjusted diluted earnings per share in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, but does not change the company’s financial expectations for the fiscal year.

“Bringing Aliquant into Towers Watson combines two great teams that share a commitment to delivering the best possible service to leading organizations,” said Pat Amendola, North America leader of Towers Watson’s Technology and Administration Solutions business. “This agreement strengthens Towers Watson’s position as a premier provider of health and welfare outsourcing, and provides greater economies of scale to help us maintain our service quality while supporting our longer-term growth goals.”

Aliquant was founded in 1985 in Milford, CT, to develop software for the administration of health and welfare benefit plans. Today, Aliquant has more than 200 employees. The company’s clients — which number more than 75 and range in size from 1,000 to 100,000 employees — span a variety of industries. In addition to core administration services, Aliquant’s offerings include employee customer service call centers, FSA and COBRA administration, direct billing and hardcopy and electronic total compensation statements. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, Aliquant had revenues of approximately $32 million.

“Over the past decade, Aliquant has become a well-regarded provider of health and welfare benefits administration. However, after a careful analysis of the marketplace, we concluded that the combination with Towers Watson was the right step for our clients and our employees,” said Aliquant founder and CEO Faisal Saleh. “Towers Watson and Aliquant complement each other strategically, and I’m confident that our clients will continue to experience excellent service while gaining access to a broader set of solutions and a commitment to technological innovation.”

Amendola and Saleh said that the two companies share similar “clients first” cultures and complementary business strengths and added that Towers Watson plans to work closely with Aliquant clients to preserve continuity of client teams and service.

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bs-people-pavan-vaish/419263/