Carl Icahn has a sizable enclose in health insurer Cigna and plans to vote against its acquisition of chemists shop benefit manager Express Scripts, The Wall Street Journal narrative Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Cigna asseverated the $54 billion deal in March amid a wave of consolidation in the health-care commerce. Cigna’s rival Aetna had agreed to combine with drugstore trammel and pharmacy benefit manager CVS Health months earlier in a deal that vaunt up the space.
The price equated to about $96.03 per share in cash and stock, a amount that Icahn considers too high, sources told the Journal. Allotments opened at $79.20 on Wednesday.
Cigna’s stock gained 2 percent on the info while Express Scripts shares fell 6 percent.
Icahn’s at risk in Cigna amounts to less than 5 percent of outstanding shares, according to the Annual. The activist investor plans to convince other shareholders to vote against the reckon with on Aug. 24, sources told the Journal.
Some investors have anguished whether the deal would pass regulatory scrutiny, which may account for why the shares are mty lower than the offer price. California’s Insurance Commissioner hustled the Department of Justice to block CVS’ deal for Aetna, a move that could run over to Cigna’s bid for Express Scripts.
The looming presence of Amazon has also weighed on health-care attendances. Political pressure has led some to worry about the future of pharmacy allowances manager, firms that negotiate prescription drug prices with producers. President Donald Trump and his administration have sharpened attacks on middlemen and looked into repealing their ability to negotiate rebates, or discounts, with drug producers.
Cigna CEO David Cordani has defended the deal as a way to “drive change” in a shop that’s currently “not sustainable.” He’s distanced this deal from AT&T’s bid for Quickly Warner, which the Justice department opposed, telling CNBC in May that Cigna and Betoken Scripts are “two complementary companies.”
Cigna and Icahn did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requisitions for comment.