Aetna shareholders voted to approve the issuance of Aetna common shares to Humana stockholders in connection with Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana. Of the 287,661,869 shares voting at the special meeting of shareholders, 99 percent voted in favor of the issuance of the Aetna common shares.
Of the 129,240,721 shares voting at Humana’s special meeting of stockholders, more than 99 percent voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement, which represented approximately 87 percent of Humana’s total outstanding shares of common stock as of the close of business on Sept. 16, 2015, the record date for the special meeting.
The U.S. Department of Justice has extended its antitrust review of the Hartford health insurer’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of Humana.
In September, the American Medical Association came out in opposition to the merger as well as Anthem’s purchase of Cigna. The AMA said at the time, insurance competition would be significantly reduced in 97 metropolitan areas spread across most states.
The completion of the Humana deal remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval by Humana stockholders of the agreement and plan of merger, as well as the expiration of the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period and approvals of state departments of insurance and other regulators. Aetna continues to expect that the transaction will be completed in the second half of 2016.
