After passing all regulatory hurdles the pharmacy benefit manager and chain pharmacy services giant CVS Health Corp. announced Nov. 28 that it has closed its merger with health insurance provider Aetna Inc., in what the largest 2018 corporate transaction since AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. earlier this year.
With its acquisition of Aetna, CVS now stands as a juggernaut in the healthcare industry, combining its health offerings, products and services with Aetna’s global network of health providers. Though CVS has reassured customers that its services will still be accessible through other health plans and that Aetna members will retain access to their current network of pharmacies, the merger provides the vertical integration with both the resources and analytical data of both organizations, allowing for unprecedented levels of control of healthcare markets.
With the completion of the merger, Mark T. Bertolini has resigned as chairman and CEO of Aetna. He, along with three other directors from Aetna, have joined CVS’s board of directors, increasing the number to 16 from 12. President and CEO of CVS, Larry Merlo, will continue to head the combined organization. Karen Lynch, president of Aetna, and now executive vice president at CVS, will continue to serve as the principle executive officer in charge of CVS’s health insurance subsidiary.
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- Mark Bertolini
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- Larry Merlo
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- Karen Lynch
Other executive departures and appointments related to the merger include:
- Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Aetna Thomas Sabatino, Jr. departed from the company following the merger.
- Eva Boratto, former chief accounting officer of CVS replaced Shawn Guertin as chief financial officer of the combined company, effective earlier this month.
- Dr. Alan Lotvin has transferred from his position of executive vice president of Specialty Pharmacy to assisting with the CVS-Aetna integration as executive vice president and chief transformation officer.
- Richard Jelinek, former executive vice president and head of enterprise strategy and markets at Aetna has been appointed to assist with the business combination as well in his role of executive vice president of integration.
