A Delaware
judge’s ruling that neither Cigna nor Anthem can collect
damages in a battle over who sabotaged their mega-merger years ago means no
breakup fees or billion-dollar payout for either health plan.
Cigna was perceived by most as the
potential big winner given the health insurer had been seeking
more than $13 billion in damages and a $1.85 billion breakup
fee from Anthem for “harm” Cigna says the operator of Blue Cross and Blue
Shield health plans caused the insurer and its shareholders.
The lawsuit arose in 2017 after
Anthem refused to pay a breakup fee to Cigna after its aborted $48 billion
merger with the nation’s second-largest health insurer, triggering a legal back
and forth of suits and counter suits that may finally be over.
“In this corporate soap opera, the
members of executive teams at Anthem and Cigna played themselves,” Vice Chancellor
J. Travis Laster wrote in his
opinion handed down Monday in Delaware State Chancery Court.
“Cigna failed to prove that Anthem breached its obligations under the Efforts
Covenants, and Cigna failed to prove that it is entitled to the Reverse
Termination Fee. Each party must bear the losses it suffered as a result of
their star-crossed venture.”
Though both sides lost time and money
on the legal battle, they saw positives in the ruling.
“We are satisfied with the decision
determining that Cigna breached its obligation to use best efforts to obtain
regulatory approval for the merger, thereby eliminating its right to a $1.85
billion termination fee,” Anthem said Tuesday. “We believe this decision is in
the best interests of Anthem and our stakeholders.”
Cigna Tuesday said it’s not
ruling out an appeal.
“We are pleased that the Court agreed
with us that Cigna did not cause the merger to fail,” Cigna said in a statement
Tuesday. “We continue to strongly believe in the merits of our case, and we are
evaluating our options with respect to appeal. Today, Cigna and Express Scripts
are a powerful combination as we collectively harness our deep capabilities,
innovative solutions and partnership orientation to transform health care
making it more affordable, simple and predictable for those we serve.”
No comments:
Post a Comment