Deals in Brief/Health Care

This month’s Big Deals column opens with Aetna Inc.’s $7.3 billion agreement to buy Coventry Health Care Inc. Before that deal was announced there was a burst of dealmaking in the health care sector in July that followed a similar flurry in April [Deals in Brief, July]. Activity in the sector has accounted for about 14 percent of overall U.S. M&A by volume this year, with 72 deals of $100 million or more worth a total of $78.1 billion through the first eight months of 2012, according to Dealogic. Below we list the advisers on four large deals announced in July.

WellPoint/AmeriGroup

WellPoint Inc. agreed to buy managed care company Amerigroup Corporation for $4.9 billion in cash on July 9. At $92 per target share, the deal came at a 43 percent premium to the target’s closing price on July 6, the last trading day before the announcement. Amerigroup manages state Medicaid and other publicly funded programs and serves about 2.7 million members in 13 states, while Wellpoint has almost 34 million people enrolled in its health plans. The parties hope to close the deal next year pending approvals from AmeriGroup shareholders and regulators.

For acquiror WellPoint Inc. (Indianapolis)