Aetna Inc.said Friday October 16 that it had agreed to buy Humana Inc.
for $34.1 billion in cash and stock, following weeks of frenzied merger talks among the largest health insurers.
Under the deal, Aetna would pay about $230 a share for Humana, a premium of 23% from Thursday’s close and 29% from the company’s share price befor.
The Wall Street Journal in late May first reported Humana was exploring a sale. Including debt, the companies said, the deal is valued the deal at $37 billion.
The consolidation momentum in the health-insurance industry is being fed by a desire to diversify and cut costs, amid a landscape changed by the Affordable Care Act. Insurers are eager to reduce expenses and build scale that will help them face off against health-care providers that are bulking up. The providers themselves are growing partly with an eye toward new forms of payment encouraged by the health law.
Read more: Aetna Agrees to Buy Humana for $34.1 Billion - WSJ
Under the deal, Aetna would pay about $230 a share for Humana, a premium of 23% from Thursday’s close and 29% from the company’s share price befor.
The Wall Street Journal in late May first reported Humana was exploring a sale. Including debt, the companies said, the deal is valued the deal at $37 billion.
The consolidation momentum in the health-insurance industry is being fed by a desire to diversify and cut costs, amid a landscape changed by the Affordable Care Act. Insurers are eager to reduce expenses and build scale that will help them face off against health-care providers that are bulking up. The providers themselves are growing partly with an eye toward new forms of payment encouraged by the health law.
Read more: Aetna Agrees to Buy Humana for $34.1 Billion - WSJ
