Trump administration regulators are not ready to sign off on CVS Health’s $69 billion deal to acquire Aetna. The Department of Justice asked the firms to provide more information on Thursday, just as the 30 day waiting period under Hart Scott Rodino Act expired.
So far, the Trump administration has shown it’s not receptive to vertical integration deals. Last fall, the justice department moved to block AT&T’s bid to acquire Time Warner.That trail in that case is set to start on March 19th.
The DOJ’s second notice request extends the waiting period on the CVS-Aetna deal for another 30 days. In the meantime, the firms have scheduled shareholder votes to approve the deal for March 20th.
News Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/01/justice-department-requests-more-information-on-cvs-aetna-merger.html