One of Connecticut’s major health insurance companies is in talks to merge with a rival company.
The Wall Street Journal, citing information from unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” reported that Bloomfield-based Cigna (NYSE:CI) is discussing a stock-and-cash deal union with Humana (NYSE:HUM), which is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Cigna has a current market value of $83 billion and recorded $181 billion in revenue last year, while Humana’s market value is approximately $62 billion and its 2022 revenue was about $93 billion.
The companies previously discussed a merger in 2015, but Humana opted to combine with Aetna, another Connecticut insurance company. But that merger was blocked by a judge citing antitrust concerns. Cigna also faced pushback over antitrust concerns when it unsuccessfully sought a merger with Anthem, now called Elevance Health. Cigna has recently explored the sale of its existing Medicare Advantage business, which could be seen as a strategy to alleviate potential antitrust concerns if a merger with Humana would be pursued.
The Journal reported the merger could be finalized before the end of this year. If the deal goes through, it would be the largest M&A transaction of the year, surpassing the $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources by Exxon Mobil.
