Braces for impact folk because this one is something big, CVS Health has just announced plans to acquire Aetna, the US-based managed health care company. The deal, which said to be one of the largest this year, would combine the drugstore giant with one of the biggest players in the US market.
According to The New York Times, the Woonsocket-based company has acquired the Connecticut-based Aetna for a whopping $69 billion. Under the terms of merger agreement, CVS Health will acquire all outstanding shares of Aetna for a combination of cash and stock.
The total value of the deal is $77 billion, including the assumption of Aetna’s debt.
The combined strength of the two companies would create a formidable figure in the US health care industry. Analysts believe that the monstrous deal has the potential to reshape the struggling American health care industry. The nation’s health care system is expected to receive some big boost from broader use of data and analytics, which could result in more improved patient care. More importantly, the combined strength would result in a more effective program, which now could be able to address the growing cost of treating chronic diseases.
About the target company, Aetna
Based in Hartford, Connecticut, Aetna is an American managed health care company that provides a wide range of traditional and consumer-directed health care insurance plans and related services.
These include medical pharmaceuticals, group life, long-term care, disability plans, dental, behavioral care, Medicaid health care management services, medical management capabilities, and workers’ compensation administrative services.The company’s customers include individuals, students, employer groups, labor groups and government units.
Currently, Aetna is one of nation’s leading diversified health care managed companies. It served an estimated 44.6 million people with a broad range of medical care services to help those people with their health problems.
About the acquirer, CVS Health
Founded in 1996 and based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, CVS Health is an American retail pharmacy and health care company.
The company operates around 9,700 retail locations along with more than 1,100 walk-in medical clinics. It also maintains a market-leading pharmacy benefit manager with nearly 90 million plan members and a dedicated senior pharmacy care business that served with more than 1 million patients per year. Additionally, it also offers a leading stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Overall, the company’s offerings deliver quality and better medical care. And more importantly, it lowers overall medical costs.
CVS Health’s merger with Aetna is expected to establish a new way of delivering health care. As mentioned earlier by CNBC, the Rhode Island-based CVS Health operates a massive chain of pharmacies and medical clinics that can be used by Aetna to provide better care to patients.
For some analyst, the timing of the deal is great. It comes at a time of turbulent transformation in the US health care system. Health services, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies are facing a possible disruption in the government program like Medicare as a result of the big changes in the US government health program.
