Willis Towers Watson halts sale plans for insurance broker Miller

LONDON (Reuters) - Willis Towers Watson (WTW) <WLTW.O> has halted plans for a possible sale of its Miller insurance broker, citing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

WTW last month said it was being bought by rival Aon <AON.N> for nearly $30 billion to form the world's largest insurance broker in a deal that had been more than a year in the making, but the share prices of both have slumped more than 20% as the coronavirus crisis has deepened since the March 9 announcement.

"Given the current COVID-19 outbreak and associated uncertainty, we have paused our current efforts to explore strategic alternatives for Miller," a Willis spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

"WTW and Miller remain committed to the process and will make an announcement in due course."

Willis bought Miller Insurance Services, a Lloyd's of London broker, in 2015.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by David Goodman)