In a deal market as uncertain as this one, we have seen transactional lawyers more frequently resorting to pushing what are known as “hell or high water” clauses - clauses that obligate parties to take “any and all...more
Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Cigna Derivative Suit Over Failed Anthem Merger; The PCAOB Sanctions Former KPMG Vice Chair Of Audit For Failure To Supervise Senior Members Of KPMG's Audit Practice; Ninth Circuit Affirms...more
On May 3, 2021, Anthem, Inc. secured its win over Cigna Corp.'s pursuit of a $1.85 billion breakup fee following the collapse of their proposed $54 billion merger. In a brief order, Justice Karen L. Valihura, writing for the...more
On August 31, 2020, the Delaware Chancery Court issued an opinion in litigation between Anthem and Cigna related to the contract in their terminated merger. In its sprawling 306-page opinion, the court detailed a “corporate...more
On May 12, Anthem announced that it was terminating all efforts to complete its proposed merger with Cigna. The deal, announced back in 2015 and valued at $54 billion, would have combined the country's second and fifth...more
Anthem announced on Friday, May 12, 2017 that it delivered formal notice to Cigna of termination of the parties’ merger agreement. The announcement comes on the heels of a Delaware Chancery judge’s denial, issued late...more
Efficiencies, economies of scale, and the general desire to improve the customer experience are the lifeblood of all mergers. And one of the most common efficiencies in any deal comes from enhanced purchasing power, or the...more
On March 24, the D.C. Circuit held oral argument on Anthem's appeal in United States v. Anthem, in which Anthem sought to have the appellate court overturn District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson's ruling that barred the...more
In a February 28, 2017 letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the American Medical Association (AMA) expressed concern regarding Anthem’s recent statements about a potential settlement with DOJ that would allow the...more
On February 14, 2017, Cigna Corp. (Cigna) announced it would drop its $54 billion merger with Anthem, Inc. (Anthem) and filed an action against Anthem in the Delaware Chancery Court for a declaratory judgment that Cigna had...more
During the summer of 2015, within a matter of days, Aetna announced an intention to merge with Humana and Anthem announced an intention to merge with Cigna. The deals, among the largest insurance industry combinations ever...more
In July 2016, following a lengthy review, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), together with several states, sued to block two proposed health insurer mergers: Aetna/Humana and Anthem/Cigna. On January...more
Securing the Safety Net for America's Vulnerable Populations - Editor's Note: America's population is aging rapidly. By 2029, 75 million baby boomers will have reached age 65 and older, and older adults will represent...more
On February 8, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted a request filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division for an injunction blocking Anthem, Inc.’s (Anthem) proposed $54...more
In the past month, the DOJ and several state governments scored two trial wins in their challenges to mergers among some of the country’s largest health insurers. First, Judge Bates of the District of Columbia blocked the...more
In a continuation of recent Department of Justice (DOJ) successes challenging mergers, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently enjoined two more proposed mergers brought and litigated under the Obama...more
The past year has seen some significant and interesting challenges brought by the federal antitrust agencies in the merger space. There has been evidence for years of the agencies’ aggressive willingness to litigate. And...more
While the election of Donald Trump as the nation's next president is clearly the biggest news in Washington over the last two months, for the insurance industry, big news has also been made at the federal district courthouse....more
On October 14, 2016, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that two companies could not claim a joint defense privilege for certain sensitive emails they had exchanged in connection with their proposed merger. ...more
The trial over Aetna and Humana's $37 billion proposed merger kicked off today in a Washington, D.C. federal court. At issue is whether the companies' merger would substantially lessen competition in the market for...more
In late July, the DOJ Antitrust Division filed actions in federal district court seeking to derail both the Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana mergers. In each case, the DOJ contended that consumers would face higher insurance...more
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have continued their aggressive stance against proposed mergers that the antitrust agencies perceive as harmful to competition. So far this year, the FTC obtained a...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), joined by attorneys general from several states, filed a lawsuit last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block two major mergers between health...more