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US: DOJ close to approving two healthcare mega-mergers

By  |  September 5, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is getting close to approving two healthcare mega-mergers, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

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    The mergers, one between the pharmacy CVS Health and the insurer Aetna, and the other between the insurer Cignaand the pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, were announced at the end of 2017 and in March, respectively.

    The DOJ has identified some competition concerns surrounding the nearly $70 billion CVS-Aetna deal, and the companies will be required to sell off assets related to Medicare drug coverage to resolve those concerns, people familiar with the deliberations said.
    The DOJ’s approval of the $54 billion Cigna-Express Scripts deal could come without the government requiring the companies to sell off any assets, the Journal reported.

    The CVS-Aetna deal would marry CVS’s drugstores and large pharmacy-benefit-management business with the third-biggest US health insurer. The companies have said they would use retail outlets to offer new, more convenient and efficient access to care. They have received some opposition in the past months. 

    The Cigna-Express Scripts merger, announced in March, will join an insurer with a strong focus on employers to a pharmacy-benefit manager that remains a giant player despite recent business challenges. The deal faced a challenge by activist investor Carl Icahn, but it easily won out in shareholder votes.

    Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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