Health insurer Cigna set to buy Express Scripts - WSJ

(Reuters) - U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp is close to buying pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The terms of the potential deal were not known, but a deal could be announced as soon as Thursday, the WSJ said. http://on.wsj.com/2IdidFs

Express Scripts had a market value of $41.43 billion as of Wednesday's close, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data.

Express Scripts declined to comment on the report, while Cigna could not be immediately reached for comment.

Some of the deals in the sector have faced regulatory hurdles in the recent years, including Anthem Inc's $54 billion deal to buy Cigna in 2015.

Last year, Anthem called off the deal after the U.S. Justice Department blocked the merger that would have created the largest U.S. health insurer.

Drugstore chain CVS Health Corp agreed to buy health insurer Aetna Inc late last year for $69 billion in the year's largest corporate deal.

The deal came after Aetna's $37 billion plan to buy health insurer Humana Inc was blocked by a U.S. federal judge over antitrust concerns.

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)