- CVS Health is in talks with health insurer Aetna about an acquisition, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
- The deal would value Aetna at about $66 billion, or roughly $200 per share.
- The news comes less than a year after a judge blocked Aetna's attempt to acquire rival insurer Humana on anticompetitive grounds.
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CVS is reportedly considering buying health-insurance giant Aetna for $66 billion
CVS Health is in talks to buy the health insurance giant Aetna, according to a new report.
, the retail pharmacy giant, is in talks to purchase Aetna, one of the five large publicly traded health-insurance companies, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal's Dana Mattioli reported that CVS offered more than $200 per share of Aetna, which was at $160 a share before the news broke. The deal would be worth about $66 billion, according to the report.
Aetna previously agreed to buy rival insurer Humana for $34 billion, but that deal was blocked by the Department of Justice. A judge ruled in favor of the DOJ in January, saying that the combination of the two companies would have been anticompetitive.
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An Aetna representative declined to comment on the report, telling Business Insider, "We don't comment on rumors or speculation."
A representative for CVS also declined to comment, saying, "We don’t comment on market rumors such as this."
Following the news, Aetna shares jumped about 11.5%, to $178.60 a share, as of 4:15 p.m. ET. CVS shares slipped by roughly 3% to $72.60 a share.
In 2016, CVS acquired Target's pharmacy business, which included 1,660 pharmacies in 47 states. If a deal with Aetna materializes, it would be the biggest M&A in the US in 2017.
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