Cigna has brought merger talks with Humana back from the dead, according to a new report in Bloomberg.
People familiar with the conversations told the outlet that informal discussions recently began anew, though they are in the early stages. Cigna is aiming to complete the sale of its Medicare Advantage business before pursuing other deals, according to the article.
While talks have resumed, the sources emphasized that the companies have not made an agreement, so they could choose not to reach a deal or could pursue a merger in the new year.
Humana’s stock trended up Friday following the news, while shares in Cigna were down by about 5%.
The two insurers first began discussing a merger in late November 2023, before those talks were iced just a couple of weeks later. If Cigna and Humana were to come together, they would form a company that could potentially rival industry giants UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health.
However, the feds have made it clear that they’re closely watching merger activity in healthcare. The Federal Trade Commission recently increased the pre-merger reporting requirements for healthcare deals, and is already embroiled with Cigna as its probes the pharmacy benefit management industry.
Cigna and Humana were also both part of insurance mega-mergers that were scuttled by federal opposition. Cigna was set to combine with Anthem, now Elevance Health, and Humana with Aetna. Aetna has since been acquired by CVS.
Publisher: Source link
