CVS Health acquired Aetna in 2018 for approximately $69 billion.
CVS Health announced the agreement in December 2017, and the transaction closed in November 2018 after regulatory review. Aetna was one of the largest health-insurance companies in the United States, while CVS Health operated pharmacies, retail clinics and pharmacy-benefit services.
The acquisition combined insurance with pharmacy and healthcare-delivery businesses. CVS said the combination could help coordinate care, make healthcare more accessible and use pharmacy locations as community healthcare sites. The company operated Aetna as a separate business unit after the closing.
The transaction is sometimes confused with Cigna's acquisition of Express Scripts, which also closed in 2018. That was a different healthcare-industry combination. In the CVS-Aetna deal, CVS Health was the buyer and Aetna was the insurer being acquired. Aetna's name continued to appear in health-plan operations after the transaction.