Law360 (March 5, 2019, 10:34 PM EST) — A senior global communications company director on Tuesday 
detailed an alleged Cigna Corp. stealth public relations campaign aimed at derailing the health insurer’s proposed $54 billion merger with Anthem Inc., during the seventh day of a 10-day, multibillion-dollar Chancery Court damages trial.
Teneo Senior Managing Director Stephen Cohen testified that his company put together a multifaceted effort to paint a picture favoring Cigna and CEO David Cordani’s side of the dispute. The effort followed Cigna confidentially retaining Teneo to channel some communications through Cigna counsel Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to provide cover for their plan to sabotage the merger, according to a court document.
Tactics were described as ranging from the mild to the serious. Teneo at one point was scouring records wherever it could in search of information that could be used to suggest that Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and oversaw a poorly run health insurance company.