CVS Negotiating Deal To Buy Aetna, As Amazon Starts Encroaching On Drugstore Chain’s Turf
The deal reflects a blurring of traditional boundaries in health care as companies try to adjust to the ever-changing and uncertain marketplace.
The New York Times:
CVS Is Said To Be In Talks To Buy Aetna In Landmark Acquisition
CVS Health, the giant drugstore chain that also runs walk-in clinics and a pharmacy benefit business, is in talks to buy Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, according to people briefed on the talks. Negotiations between the two companies could still fall apart, these people say. But if consummated, the deal could be worth more than $60 billion based on Aetna’s current market value, which would make it one of the largest corporate acquisitions this year and one of the largest in the history of the health industry. (Sorkin, de la Merced and Thomas, 10/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS Makes Blockbuster Aetna Bid
CVS Health Corp. is in talks to buy Aetna Inc. for more than $66 billion as the drugstore giant scrambles to fortify itself against looming competition from Amazon.com Inc. amid a continuing reordering of the health-care industry. CVS has made a proposal to buy the health insurer for more than $200 per share, people familiar with the matter said. The talks may not lead to a deal, but in a sign of their seriousness, the companies’ respective chief executives— Larry Merlo at CVS and Mark Bertolini at Aetna—have met multiple times over a period of roughly six months, one of the people said. (Mattioli, Terlep and Wilde Mathews, 10/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Real Reason CVS Wants To Buy Aetna? Amazon
Amazon.com Inc. has struck again. Only this time the internet giant is shaking up an industry it hasn’t yet entered. Amazon’s potential entry into the pharmacy-services industry helped spur CVS Health Corp.’s $66 billion bid for insurance giant Aetna Inc., AET 11.54% according to a person familiar with the matter. An acquisition of a major insurer was among roughly a dozen strategies CVS’s management team recently presented to directors, the person said. (Terlep and Stevens, 10/27)
Bloomberg:
Amazon Threat Causes Shakeout In The Health-Care Industry
Amazon.com Inc. is casting a long shadow over the health-care industry. The prospect of the giant Internet retailer entering the business is beginning to cause far-reaching reverberations for a range of companies, roiling the shares of drugstore chains, drug distributors and pharmacy-benefit managers, and potentially precipitating one of the biggest corporate merger deals this year. On Thursday, the pressure was plain to see. A report that Amazon had received pharmacy-wholesaler licenses in a dozen states triggered a fast and steep selloff that wounded the likes of McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp. and Cardinal Health Inc. And late in the day, shares of Aetna Inc. surged after a report that it was in talks to be taken over by CVS Health Corp. (Langreth, Hopkins and Soper, 10/26)
The Hill:
Amazon Gets Pharmacy Licenses In At Least 12 States: Report
Tech giant Amazon is expanding into the pharmacy business, according to a Thursday report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The popular shopping website has allegedly received approval for wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least 12 states: Nevada, Arizona, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Idaho, New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee. (Bowden, 10/26)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Amazon Gains Wholesale Pharmacy Licenses In Multiple States
Throughout the past year, and without much fanfare, Amazon.com Inc. has gained approval to become a wholesale distributor from a number of state pharmaceutical boards, according to a review of public records. It’s unclear, though, whether the regulatory filings support speculation that the e-commerce giant is planning a move into the prescription drug delivery business, territory currently dominated by a handful of companies. (Liss, 10/27)
Bloomberg:
Aetna Rises After WSJ Reports CVS In Talks To Buy Insurer
Aetna Inc. gained in New York trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that CVS Health Corp. is in talks to buy the insurer for more than $66 billion. Aetna jumped 12 percent to $178.60, closing at a record high, while CVS fell 2.9 percent to $73.31. Spokesmen for Aetna and CVS declined to comment. CVS has offered to buy Aetna for more than $200 a share, the paper said. (Tracer and Langreth, 10/26)
