Bulletin: CVS Health Corp. Closer To Full Regulatory Approval For $69B Acquisition Of Aetna; DoJ Approval Is A Positive Step

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 11, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said while the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) approved CVS Health's (BBB/Stable/A-2) plan to acquire Aetna, the transaction still requires additional approvals from various state insurance regulators. Our base-case assumption is that the transaction will receive additional necessary approvals.. The DoJ approval, which is probably the greatest approval hurdle, comes with the requirement for the company to dispose of Aetna's Medicare Part D prescription drug business, which we understand would have had a significant market position post-merger. Meeting this condition is not at issue for Aetna, which is already under contract to sell this business to WellCare Health by year-end 2018. We incorporate the sale into our base-case assumptions

...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 11, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said while the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) approved CVS Health's (###/Stable/A-2) plan to acquire Aetna, the transaction still requires additional approvals from various state insurance regulators. Our base-case assumption is that the transaction will receive additional necessary approvals.. The DoJ approval, which is probably the greatest approval hurdle, comes with the requirement for the company to dispose of Aetna's Medicare Part D prescription drug business, which we understand would have had a significant market position post-merger. Meeting this condition is not at issue for Aetna, which is already under contract to sell this business to WellCare Health by year-end 2018. We incorporate the sale into our base-case assumptions for cash flows and balance sheet deleveraging. CVS is awaiting the go-ahead from various state insurance regulators, including New York and California. We understand these states would...

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