Dive Brief:
- Aetna filed a preliminary document with the Securities and Exchange Commission describing the bond plan it will use to fund its $37 billion purchase of Humana, Louisville Business First reported.
- The Connecticut insurer expects to raise up to $13 billion to fund the deal, putting it in the top mergers and acquisitions debt financing this year.
- The deal, announced last year, is still under regulatory review, but Aetna maintains that it’s on track to close later this year.
Dive Insight:
According to the filing, Aetna will “use the net proceeds of this offering, together with cash on hand at Aetna and Humana, and an approximately $3.2 billion term loan that we expect to borrow at the time the merger is completed, to fund the cash portion of the purchase price of the merger.”
The preliminary plan doesn’t note the total dollar amount of the offering, the number of notes, or when they are due.
The Aetna-Humana deal is facing stiff scrutiny from regulators, in part because of Anthem and Cigna’s planned merger. If both deals are approved, that will leave just three major health payers.
Still needed to seal the deal are approvals from several state regulators and the Department of Justice.