Anthem to press on for Cigna, cites $2 billion in synergies

The office building of health insurer Anthem in Los Angeles, California. / REUTERS

(Reuters) -- U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc. said Monday that it is committed to buying Cigna Corp., saying it had found $2 billion in cost synergies within two years, after the smaller rival publicly rejected the deal.

Anthem on Saturday publicly disclosed that it had offered to buy Cigna for cash and stock worth $47 billion, but that Cigna had said no primarily because it had not given the CEO job to Cigna's top executive.

Cigna said Sunday that it had received a proposal but turned it down because of issues such as the Anthem cyber breach this year that affected about 80 million people, antitrust concerns related to Anthem's Blue Cross Blue Shield membership and concerns about Anthem's management team.

Anthem said it expected at least $17 per share in earnings from the deal by 2018.