Activist investor Carl Icahn will stop soliciting votes from Cigna shareholders against the insurer's $54 billion takeover of Express Scripts, the billionaire investor said in an Aug. 13 statement.
The decision to end his fight against the deal came after a second proxy-advisory firm, Glass Lewis & Co., recommended shareholders back the transaction. The first proxy-advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, announced support of the deal on Aug. 10.
In addition, the decision also stemmed from significant shareholder overlap between Cigna and Express Scripts, according to Mr. Icahn.
"We have informed the [Securities and Exchange Commission] that we no longer intend to solicit proxies to vote against the transaction," the statement reads.
Even before two proxy advisors recommended that shareholders support the deal, Mr. Icahn faced a difficult fight because he waited so long to publicly criticize the deal. Cigna last week called Mr. Icahn's opposition to the takeover "misguided and shortsighted."
Shareholders of both companies are slated to vote on the takeover Aug. 24.