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CVS's Aetna Takeover Comes With $2.1 Billion Termination Fee

CVS's Aetna Takeover Comes With $2.1 Billion Termination Fee

(Bloomberg) -- CVS Health Corp. could owe Aetna Inc. $2.1 billion if the drugstore chain’s acquisition of the health insurer fails, according to a merger agreement filed Tuesday.

CVS would owe Aetna the funds if the deal announced Sunday fails for a variety of reasons, including if it can’t gain approval from antitrust authorities.

Likewise, Aetna would owe CVS $2.1 billion if the deal fell apart because of opposition from Aetna shareholders or board, or if the company took a better offer.

Aetna’s stock is trading well below the $207-a-share price the companies agreed to. On Tuesday, the shares closed at $178.69, little changed from Monday.

Earlier this year, Aetna had to pay insurer Humana Inc. a $1 billion breakup fee after Aetna’s $37 billion takeover of the smaller insurer was blocked by a federal judge following opposition from the Justice Department.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zachary Tracer in New York at ztracer1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Jeff Sutherland

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