The U.S. Department of Justice will review Cigna’s $67 billion proposal to acquire Express Scripts, the results of which are likely to have major ramifications on other vertical integrations being explored across healthcare.
Bloomberg first reported the news, saying Cigna has been telling investors about the review for weeks but only confirming it publicly on April 18. Cigna’s statement said its “optimistic in our ability to obtain regulatory approval.”
The Cigna-Express Scripts deal was announced on the heels on the proposed acquisition of Aetna by CVS Health, which also attracted DOJ scrutiny. The department had asked for more information by the two companies’ merger agreement In February and no further updates have been given. In the meantime, CVS and Aetna shareholders both voted to approve the deal.
While the DOJ successfully blocked horizontal integrations involving some of these same insurers—Cigna’s abandoned merger with Anthem and Aetna’s scrapped combination with Humana—how regulators will approach these vertical integrations is still an open question, though a DOJ win in its challenge to the merger between AT&T and Time Warner could lead to litigation over these healthcare deals.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.