Tag Archives: insurance

Cigna Rebuffs Anthem Bid for Takeover

The trend to merge health insurance companies into fewer unique entities continues apace as Anthem Inc. made a bid to buy rival health care insurer Cigna Corporation.

The latest bid for Cigna came after months of negotiations between the parties and a previous offer ten days ago. The latest takeover bid came when Anthem offered to buy Cigna for about $175 per share. Cigna is still saying no to the offers.

Health care giant Humana Inc. has also entered the fray, discussing a possible takeover of Cigna as well as Aetna Inc.

On Monday morning Anthem’s market value was estimated at $43 billion, and Cigna’s was approximately $35 billion.

Cigna stock soared in the wake of the Wall Street Journal story about the takeover bid, climbing 12 percent in active midday trading, reaching $153.74 per share. Anthem shares also grew, adding 2 percent to close at $164.22.

If It Works Don’t Fix It

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) is a great example of a business with similar product lines. In fact it is so good that it has three product lines with similar marketing strategys. They sell health care products to practitioners with private offices or clinics, particularly, dentists, general medical practitioners and, believe it or not, animal health clinics. They have health care technology segments in which they develop the technology and also healthcare distribution networks to market their products in 21 countries.

What I like about this is that they that the marketing system is the same for all of the product lines. They all sell health equipment and they all sell to private practitioners with small offices or clinics. In other words, the sales forces operate on similar principles, so what they learn in one product line can be applied to the other product lines. They also make money on the exchange rates which shows financial savvy.

The company’s stock has also been rising steadily from 2009 until the end of July 2011, when it reached $75 per share. It then dropped down to $60 which appears to be because of the world economy. This might be a good stock to invest in but I personally would wait until I see that it is going back up. As with all stocks this requires a thorough examination before buying to determine if it is the stock’s situation at the time of purchase. In addition, this is a fortune 500 company, which as I said is multinational. The multinational aspect gives it an added aspect of stability in my opinion.

Some mangers to look out for at this company are Michael Zack, the President of the International Group, Ms. Lonnie Shoff, the President of the Healthcare Specialties Group, Michael Racioppi, a Senior VP and chief Merchandising Officer and Steven Paladino, the CFO.