EU Stock Market Merger On Ice: EU set to block stock market mega merger

 London Stock Exchange (LSE) said its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse AG was unlikely to be approved by the European Commission, leaving the stock market operators’ third attempt at combining on the brink of failure.

The LSE said in a statement late on Sunday (26 February) that the Commission had asked it to sell its 60% stake in fixed-income trading platform MTS to satisfy antitrust concerns over the merger of Europe’s two largest market operators.

Calling the request “disproportionate”, the British exchange said it believed that it would struggle to sell MTS and that such a sale would be detrimental to its ongoing business.

“Based on the Commission’s current position, LSE believes that the Commission is unlikely to provide clearance for the merger,” it said.

The exchange added that it would still work to make the merger with Deutsche Börse succeed, but that would be impossible unless the executive changed its position.

Read more: EU set to block stock market mega merger – EurActiv.com

Insurance Industry: Aetna Agrees to Buy Humana for $34.1 Billion - by Liz Hoffman, Dana Mattioli and Anna Wilde Mathews

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