By Dana Mattioli And Liz Hoffman
Aetna Inc. has made a takeover proposal to Humana Inc., one of a
number of recent moves by big health insurers to find merger
partners.
Aetna in the last few days made the proposal, according to
people familiar with the matter. It isn't clear how much Aetna
indicated it would pay. Humana has a market value of $30 billion.
The company hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to help it field
takeover interest, people familiar with the matter have said.
UnitedHealth Group Inc., meanwhile, recently made a takeover
approach to Aetna. It isn't clear what, if any, Aetna's response
was.
News of the Aetna proposal comes the same day Anthem Inc.,
another of the five big managed-care companies, said it boosted its
takeover offer for Cigna Corp. Anthem went public with the bid
after the two sides failed to reach agreement, and is seeking to
put pressure on Cigna through Cigna shareholders.
Anthem offered $184 a share for Cigna, or about $47.5
billion.
Cigna itself is eyeing Humana, people familiar with the matter
have said.
The five big managed-care companies are jockeying for deals that
will enable them to get more efficient and better respond to
changes in the health care landscape in the U.S. brought on by the
Affordable Care Act and other developments.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Liz Hoffman
at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
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