U.S. court blocks Anthem-Cigna $54 billion deal
Source: Reuters
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc's (ANTM.N) proposed $54 billion merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp (CI.N), derailing an unprecedented effort to consolidate the country’s health insurance industry.
The U.S. Justice Department sued in July to stop Anthem's purchase of Cigna, a deal that would have created the largest U.S. health insurer by membership, and Aetna Inc's (AET.N) planned $33 billion acquisition of Humana (HUM.N).
On Wednesday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling against Anthem's deal under seal. Last month, a different U.S. judge ruled against Aetna's proposed deal for Humana.
Berman had separated the Justice Department's case into two trials. In one, she weighed arguments over whether the tie-up would hurt the ability of large national employers to get competitive rates for the health coverage they provide workers.
Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-court-blocks-anthem-cigna-005207831.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Maybe Harry Reid knew what he was doing when he went nuclear!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama
Pssst - you'll see Judge Berman's name at the link, too.
