Indianapolis-based Anthem filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna in an attempt to block Cigna from terminating their proposed $54 billion merger agreement.
Here are four things to know.
1. Anthem filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Cigna from formally terminating and breaking the payers' merger agreement.
2. Anthem said Cigna "does not have [the] right to terminate the merger agreement at all because it has failed to perform fully its obligations in a manner that has proximately caused or resulted in the failure of the merger to have been consummated." In addition, Anthem said Cigna's motion to terminate the agreement is invalid because Anthem had previously extended their merger agreement until April 30.
3. Cigna moved to terminate its merger agreement with Anthem Tuesday and filed a lawsuit against the insurer seeking a $1.85 billion breakup fee for failing to successfully complete the merger and another $13 billion in damages. Anthem said the lawsuit "is the next step in Cigna's campaign to sabotage the merger and to try to deflect attention from its repeated willful breaches of the merger agreement in support of such effort."
4. Anthem said it believes there is still enough time to complete the transaction and it is pursuing an expedited appeal of the U.S. District Court's decision to block the deal over antitrust concerns. The insurer said it "is committed to completing this value-creating merger either through a successful appeal or through settlement with the new leadership at the Department of Justice."