St. Louis braces for loss of another headquarters as Cigna acquires Express Scripts
It was 10 years ago that Anheuser-Busch, a brand entwined in this city's DNA, was gobbled up by international brewer InBev. German conglomerate Bayer's takeover of agriculture and scientific giant Monsanto is expected to close in months.
With consolidation rampant in the health care industry, it's not a surprise to those who follow it that
But locals can be excused if news of the tie-up, a closely guarded secret until hours before the official announcement, came as a shock. The esoteric business of prescription drug management didn't exactly make
And it had risen over the last three decades to become the biggest company by revenue in
Though the
With corporate consolidation comes talk of synergies, code for overlapping functions that often include information technology, management and accounting. Cigna says it believes it can hit
"When you have two organizations coming together in any space, there's likely to be some overlap," said
That said, he added that Cigna doesn't currently operate a pharmacy benefit manager, so there's less overlap than other mergers. "We see the operation in
Still, there are likely functions at both health care companies dealing with prescription benefits, said
Some of the efficiencies could come from more cost-effective delivery of health care benefits, using the vast data of both companies to coordinate prescription drugs and other services, Turner said. Even then, "I suspect that the vast majority of it will be redundancy," he said.
"There might be some reorganization, there might be some restructuring, but operations are likely to stay."
"After they've acquired other companies, they've actually grown personnel," Sweeney said.
It would probably have a larger employment impact if it was two insurers merging, rather than one insurer adding a pharmacy benefit manager to its suite of services, said
"It's nice to have a Fortune 50 company headquartered in
Those "other things" -- namely, philanthropic giving both by the company and executives -- are likely to be impacted, say those in the nonprofit world. According to tax filings, the
"One thing is for sure -- it always changes, it's just a matter of degree," said
And in
"Philanthropy is place-based," she said. "So yes, when we have corporate mergers that occur, they do have an impact on local philanthropy and specifically those nonprofits that have had close ties with the company or its employees."
Big buyouts can have positive effects.
"If Anheuser-Busch had opened a corporate endowed fund pre-merger, that would still be here today," Bond said. "We have individual (endowed funds), but we don't have a corporate one."
___
(c)2018 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Wise F&I Hires Lynn Miller as Director of Client Services
Next Insurance Partners with National Academy of Sports Medicine and Athletics and Fitness Association of America to Offer Tailored Coverage for…
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News