1-877-475-2010
The combination will push Aetna close to Anthem Inc's (ANTM.N) No.2 insurer spot by membership, and would nearly triple Aetna's Medicare Advantage business.
The deal will face antitrust scrutiny but if it goes through it would dwarf the previous largest insurance deal announced just this week, where Swiss property and casualty giant ACE Ltd (ACE.N) announced it was buying Chubb Corp (CB.N) for $28 billion. It would also dwarf Anthem Inc's purchase of WellPoint in 2004 for $16.6 billion.
Analysts have said that M&A activity in the healthcare sector had been waiting for last week's Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, which upheld key subsidies that underpin the reform and thus gave more certainty to healthcare insurers.
Read more...