CIGNA Corp. has made a move to expand its Medicare operations by agreeing to pay about $3.8 billion in cash for the outstanding shares of HealthSpring Inc.
CIGNA, Bloomfield, Conn. (NYSE:CI), will be paying a price that should give shareholders a 37% premium over the price the shares were fetching Friday, CIGNA says.
HealthSpring, Nashville, Tenn. (NYSE:HS), has 340,000 Medicare Advantage plan enrollees in 11 states and the District of Columbia and a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business with about 800,000 enrollees.
CIGNA plans to put Herb Fritch, the chairman and chief executive officer of HealthSpring, in charge of CIGNA’s own seniors and Medicare operations, CIGNA says.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal. The companies hope to get the regulatory approvals they need to complete the deal by June 30, 2012.