“Stay very close to your clients,” and, “Don’t stop selling.”
Managers at Aon Corp., Chicago (NYSE:AON), have given that message to employees at the Aon Consulting unit in a memo filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that discusses Aon’s proposed $4.9 billion acquisition of Hewitt Associates Inc., Lincolnshire, Ill. (NYSE:HEW).
“Our competitors will be anxious to convince [clients] that we are distracted,” Aon managers say in the memo. “Let’s prove them wrong… Continue your focus on serving our clients exceptionally well.”
Aon managers acknowledge that employees may have concerns about the deal.
One of the questions Aon managers address is, “Will there be any layoffs as a result of the merger?”
“In the coming weeks and months we will be reviewing the combined company’s workforce so that we can best align our resources with the new size and scope of our combined business and continue to best serve our clients and markets,” managers say. “As in any transaction, there inevitably will be some redundancies identified, and any such changes or redundancies will be based on a fair and reasonable approach.”