CVS Health on Wednesday detailed what the management team will look like when (and if) its $69 billion mega-deal with health insurer Aetna closes later this year. Several prominent Aetna executives will stay on at the combined company, and Aetna will operate as an independent business unit under the CVS Health umbrella.
Among the most significant announcements: Current Aetna President Karen Lynch will become an executive vice president at CVS while remaining the president of the independent Aetna unit; Shawn Guertin, Aetna’s CFO, will be appointed EVP and CFO of CVS Health; CVS’ Alan Lotvin, a physician, will oversee business transformation initiatives for the combined company and Aetna’s Rick Jelenik will be appointed an EVP at CVS co-leading the integration of the firms.
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Notable departures include CVS Health CFO David Denton, and Aetna Chief Medical Officer Meg McCarthy, who will leave following a transition period. Another physician, CVS Health’s Troyen Brennan, will stay on as EVP and chief medical officer.
The announcement adds to CVS’ previously unveiled plans to add Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini to CVS’ board of directors, and that CVS Health Chief Executive Larry Merlo will remain chairman and CEO of the combined company.
CVS’ decision to retain two of its leading physician executives, Brennan and Lotvin, is a clear strategic move designed to help the combined company integrate the various medical benefits and health care services delivered by CVS and Aetna, which also involves interacting with players such as federal government programs and employers.
The CVS Aetna deal is expected to close in the second half of 2018 if it passes regulatory muster.