Cigna-Express termination deadline delayed 6 months

HBJ File Photo Cigna headquarters in Bloomfield.

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By Joe Cooper

With deadlines looming next week, Bloomfield health insurer Cigna said it has extended by six months the termination date of its proposed $67 billion purchase of pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts.

Both companies last week agreed to extend the deal’s closing date from Saturday, Dec. 8, to June 8, 2019, which offers additional time to receive regulatory approvals, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The original Dec. 8 deadline signaled the final day Cigna or Express Scripts could have nixed the proposed deal, which is expected to give Cigna shareholders 64 percent ownership of the combined company.

Despite the revised agreement, both companies expect to close the deal by year-end, the filing says.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division approved Cigna's proposed acquisition of the St. Louis, Missouri-based company. The clearance came weeks after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, of Iowa,urged DOJto review the deal, arguing it would hurt market competition.

Days later, Cigna said several executives would retain their posts under the combined company’s enterprise leadership team: Eric Palmer, chief financial officer; Lisa Bacus, chief marketing officer; and Matthew Manders, president of strategy and solutions.

As previously reported, Cigna CEO and President David Cordani will keep his title and Express Scripts CEO and President Tim Wentworth will lead the combined company's health services business as president.

If approved, the combined company would be based at Cigna’s Bloomfield headquarters.

Cigna announced its plans in March to buy Express Scripts in a cash-stock deal.