Activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his controversial opposition to the merger of insurer Cigna and pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, after previously bashing the $60 billion deal.
Icahn’s investment firm said in a statement late Monday that he was abandoning his attempt to stop the deal, but did not elaborate. Icahn holds a small stake in Cigna.
The billionaire urged the insurer’s shareholders to oppose the deal earlier this month because Cigna was “dramatically overpaying for a highly challenged Express Scripts that is facing existential risks on several fronts,” he said in an open letter on Aug. 7.
He added that Amazon’s acquisition of the online pharmacy PillPack is another obstacle to the deal.
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The merger between Cigna and Express Scripts is the latest between insurers and pharmacies or PBMs. CVS is in talks to merge with Aetna and insurance giant UnitedHealth recently sought to buy the pharmacy operator Genoa.
Date: August 20, 2018
Source: WashingtonExaminer