Deals
Icahn Drops Fight to Block Cigna's Express Scripts Takeover
- Ending fight fast unusual for Icahn, who called deal travesty
- ISS, Glass Lewis said $54 billion deal was shareholder win
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Activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his fight to block Cigna Corp.’s $54 billion acquisition of Express Scripts Holding Co. after two prominent shareholder advisory firms came out in support of the deal.
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. last week urged Cigna’s investors to support the takeover, saying it made sense from a financial and strategic perspective. Icahn had opposed the deal, saying it would be a “travesty” if it were to proceed. He sought to block the deal in a proxy fight ahead of a shareholder vote set for Aug. 24.