On September 17, 2018, Express Scripts Holding Company and Cigna Corporation issued a press release announcing that the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice has cleared its pending merger with Cigna Corporation, terminating the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
Cautionary Notes on Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains statements which, to the extent they are not statements of historical or present fact, constitute “forward-looking statements” under the securities laws. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide Cigna management’s and/or Express Scripts management’s current expectations or plans for future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “expectations,” “plans,” “strategy,” “prospects,” “estimate,” “project,” “target,” “anticipate,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “see,” “guidance,” “confident” and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements relating to future sales, earnings, cash flow, results of operations, uses of cash, share repurchases and other measures of financial performance or potential future plans, strategies or transactions of Cigna or the combined company following consummation of the mergers, the anticipated benefits of the mergers, including estimated synergies, the expected timing of completion of the mergers, Cigna’s ability to obtain financing for the mergers and other statements that are not historical facts. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. For those statements, Cigna and Express Scripts claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties detailed in Cigna’s and Express Scripts’ periodic public filings with the SEC, including those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” of the registration statement and in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in Cigna’s Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, Cigna’s Quarterly Report on Form10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2018, Express Scripts’ Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and Express Scripts’ Quarterly Report on Form10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2018, factors contained or incorporated by reference into such documents and in subsequent filings by Cigna and Express Scripts, and the following factors:
| • | | the inability of Cigna and Express Scripts to obtain all of the regulatory approvals required for the mergers or the requirement to accept conditions that could reduce the anticipated benefits of the mergers as a condition to obtaining regulatory approvals; |
| • | | failure to satisfy the conditions to closing provided in the merger agreement; |
| • | | a longer time than anticipated to consummate the mergers; |
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