Aetna Announces $3.3 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase

Insurance Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced that it has entered into accelerated share repurchase agreements with two dealers to repurchase an aggregate of $3.3 billion of the company's common stock. The accelerated share repurchase agreements are being executed under Aetna's existing share repurchase programs. Aetna is funding the repurchases under the accelerated share repurchase agreements from available cash.

Under the terms of the accelerated share repurchase agreements, Aetna will make a $1.65 billion payment to each dealer on February 22, 2017 and will receive from each of them an initial delivery of approximately 10.4 million shares of Aetna common stock on the same day. The final number of shares of Aetna common stock to be repurchased from each dealer will be based on the volume-weighted average share price of Aetna's common stock during the term of the applicable transaction, less a discount. The final settlement of the transactions under the accelerated share repurchase agreements is expected to occur during or prior to the third quarter of 2017. About Aetna Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 46.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @AetnaNews Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "explore," "evaluate," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," or "will," or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Aetna's control.

Keywords for this news article include: Aetna, Insurance.