SAN DIEGO, Feb. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. announces that a lawsuit was filed for certain purchasers of shares of Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) over alleged Securities Laws Violations by Aetna Inc.
Investors, who purchased shares of Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET), have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.
In July 2015, Aetna entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Humana Inc.
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and others filed a civil complaint against Aetna and Humana asserting that the proposed Acquisition of Humana Inc by Aetna would violate antitrust laws. One of the main issues raised by the DOJ was Aetna and Humana’s commitment to the Affordable Care Act’s Public Exchanges. According to the DOJ, the proposed merger would lead to a loss of competition on the public exchanges in 17 counties in Georgia, Missouri, and Florida, counties in which Aetna and Humana both compete.
In August 2016, Aetna’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer announced that Aetna would withdraw its participation in 11 of its 15 state Public Exchanges beginning in 2017, including Aetna’s participation in the 17 counties identified by the DOJ.
On January 23, 2017, the judge presiding over the DOJ case entered a Memorandum Opinion enjoining the proposed merger between Aetna and Humana after finding, that Aetna’s senior executives “did not view withdrawing from the 17 compliant counties as a business decision,” but rather as a way of improving Aetna’s litigation position.
On January 25, 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Aetna over alleged securities laws violations. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that Aetna and its senior executives attempted to leverage Aetna's participation in the Public Exchanges for favorable treatment from regulators regarding the Humana acquisition, that the Company threatened to limit its participation in public health insurance exchanges if the DOJ attempted to block the merger, that Aetna did not withdraw from certain public health insurance exchanges for business reasons as Defendants claimed, but to follow through on its threat of leaving the marketplace once the DOJ filed suit and to improve its litigation position, and that Aetna withdrew from public health insurance exchanges that were profitable for the Company.
Those who purchased Aetna Inc shares should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is a professional portfolio legal monitoring and a settlement claim filing service, which does research related to shareholder issues and informs investors of securities class actions, settlements, judgments, and other legal related news to the stock/financial market. The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is not a law firm. The information is provided as a public service. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon.