Hostilities between the two insurers intensify days after a judge ruled the deal violated antitrust law
The Wall Street Journal
Anthem Inc. responded to a suit by Cigna Corp. with its own suit against its merger partner, escalating the hostilities between the two health insurers in the wake of a judge’s decision that their $48 billion deal violated antitrust law.
In its suit, filed like Cigna’s in the Delaware Court of Chancery, Anthem said it sought a temporary restraining order to block Cigna from ending their pact. It also sought to force Cigna to adhere to the terms of their deal and requested damages. Anthem said it was reacting to “Cigna’s campaign to sabotage the merger and to try to deflect attention from its repeated willful breaches of the merger agreement.”
Anthem’s move is a fast response to Cigna’s announcement Tuesday that it was terminating their agreement and pursuing litigation seeking a $1.85 billion breakup fee plus more than $13 billion in damages from its deal partner. Cigna had said that Anthem violated the terms of their agreement, and that its strategy had led to the rejection of the deal.