- Calling the drama a "corporate soap opera," Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, of the Delaware Chancery Court, has decided Cigna (NYSE:CI) and Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) won't have to pay damages to one another over their failed $48B merger deal.
- Investors had largely discounted the likelihood of sizable damage awards in the litigation, but some believed Cigna might still get the breakup fee, which the judge didn't uphold, said Matthew Borsch, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets.
- "That was a little bit of a positive surprise for Anthem investors, and a little bit of a negative surprise for Cigna investors," he said.
- Cigna wanted damages of $14.7B, along with a breakup fee of about $1.8B, from Anthem, while the latter sought damages of $21.1B from Cigna.