CVS Is Said to Be in Talks to Buy Aetna in Landmark Acquisition<br />CVS Health, the giant drugstore chain that also runs walk-in clinics<br />and a pharmacy benefit business, is in talks to buy Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, according to people briefed on the talks.<br />A larger company — CVS and Aetna have combined annual revenues of about $240 billion — could enjoy greater<br />leverage in negotiations with drug companies, helping it defend itself against newcomers like Amazon.<br />But if consummated, the deal could be worth more than $60 billion based on Aetna’s current market value, which would make it one of the largest corporate acquisitions this year<br />and one of the largest in the history of the health industry.<br />“CVS has been positioning itself as a health care company and not a pharmacy for a long time.”<br />The negotiations are also taking place as the online retail giant Amazon encroaches<br />on the turf of well-established players — and the pharmacy business could be next.<br />“The intensifying battle for negotiating power and market share will lead companies to do acquisitions across traditional industry boundary<br />lines,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan who studies the drug industry.
