(Bloomberg) — Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) made a non-binding proposal to buy smaller health insurer Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI) for about $47 billion in what would be the industry’s biggest takeover ever.
The proposed offer is for $184 a share, about 31 percent of which would be paid in Anthem shares and the rest in cash. That’s a 29 percent premium to Cigna’s average closing price in the past 20 trading sessions. Anthem said the total transaction value is $53.8 billion, including net debt.
See also: Insurers from Cigna to Aetna jump as merger mania catches on
The merged entity would be about 24 percent owned by Cigna shareholders and would serve about 53 million members.