Megamerger rulings may chill future consolidations
To enforce the termination, Cigna is suing Anthem in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a declaratory judgment that Cigna has lawfully terminated the contract, according to an announcement by Cigna. Anthem, meanwhile, is seeking a temporary restraining order to enjoin Cigna from terminating its contract.
“Anthem believes there is still sufficient time and a viable path forward potentially to complete the transaction that will save millions of Americans more than $2 billion in annual medical costs and deliver significant value to shareholders,” according to a company statement. “In addition to filing this lawsuit, Anthem is pursuing an expedited appeal of the District Court’s decision and is committed to completing this value-creating merger either through a successful appeal or through settlement with the new leadership at the Department of Justice.”
Part of that new leadership could include Makan Delrahim, a former Anthem lobbyist now serving as deputy White House counsel. He is rumored to be a top contender to lead the DOJ’s antitrust division.
,Records also show that Indiana insurance regulators were supportive of the Anthem-Cigna deal while Vice President Pence was governor of Indiana and that Anthem contributed $100,000 to President Trump’s inaugural committee, according to Senate lobbying reports.
“A lot of folks are talking about the possibility that Trump will appoint people at both the FTC and DOJ antitrust devision [who] are Republicans and tend to be more business friendly, which would mean that maybe some of these mergers would be more likely to make it and less likely to be challenged,” he said.
On the other hand, a couple of leadership changes will not likely reverse the country’s historic antitrust enforcement, Mr. Dahlquist said.
“I don’t believe you’re going to see a systemic shift in the antitrust enforcement policy of this country,” he said. “Even one change at the top is not going to [create] upheaval within the ranks at the FTC and DOJ. The government is on a winning streak; I think that’s going to continue in the short term.”
“I don’t expect to see any change in the government’s approach in continuing to challenge anticompetitive health care transactions,” Ms. Feinstein said during at interview at the meeting.
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