Deals
With Anthem-Cigna All But Dead, M&A Speculation Is Back On
- Trump administration could be more open to consolidation
- ‘New sheriff in town’ could change the dynamnics in industry
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With the Anthem Inc.-Cigna Corp. merger now all but dead, speculation about the next health-insurance megadeal -- and the Trump administration’s tolerance for such transactions -- has begun.
Anthem’s $48 billion plan to buy Cigna and the now-defunct $37 billion deal that would have combined Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. were both shot down by former President Barack Obama’s justice department on antitrust grounds. Yet analysts say either Anthem or Cigna could make a move on Humana, which specializes in the fast-growing business of selling private health plans for the elderly.