LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he wants to ensure the city's largest company, Humana Inc., remains rooted here even if it merges with rival insurer Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
"The way that companies operate these days, they operate in many different physical locations. So I am confident (that) whatever this news holds, and whatever the future holds for Humana, Louisville will play a large part," Greenberg told reporters Thursday.
Greenberg was reacting to Wednesday's Wall Street Journal report indicating that Humana and Cigna are in talks to combine.
Such a merger would raise fears about job losses and the symbolism of Louisville losing a Fortune 50 corporate headquarters — the same fears stoked nearly a decade ago when Humana was nearly sold to another Connecticut rival, Aetna.
Humana, by far the largest corporation headquartered in Kentucky, employs more than 10,000 people in the Louisville area, the company has said. It has declined to comment on any talks about a merger.
Asked what he can do to influence corporate decisions, Greenberg said: "I think all that I can do is to reach out to corporate leaders and let them know how important their presence here is in Louisville, and how much the entire city wants the presence not just to continue to remain here, but to grow. Louisville is a great place to conduct business."
While no one mentioned it explicitly, the reported merger talks cast a shadow over a ceremony Thursday to celebrate a new mural honoring the late David A. Jones, who co-founded Humana in Louisville and was a tireless civic champion.
"When you think about the impact of Humana on this community, well, I wouldn't want to imagine Louisville without Humana," said Carolyn Tandy, the company's senior vice president and chief diversity officer, during the ceremony. Tandy declined to comment following the event.
David Jones Jr., Jones' eldest son, served on Humana's board of directors for 30 years until April.
Jones Jr., who said he has no knowledge of the company's current talks with Cigna, was at a loss on Thursday to explain what such a deal might mean for Louisville.
"You know, things move on. I don't know. If it happens, we'll find out," he said. "... I don't have anything to say about that."
Humana and Cigna have not announced a deal. And even if they do, the federal government may stand in the way on antitrust grounds. A government challenge would delay any merger by a year or two.
Following the Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday, the stock prices of both companies declined.
Scott Fidel, an analyst at investment bank Stephens Inc., wrote in a note to clients Thursday that a Humana-Cigna tie up makes sense for investors and could survive a Department of Justice challenge because of the companies' non-overlapping focuses. Fidel predicted the two were preparing to merge earlier this month.
The stock slides indicate that investors could be worried about a "merger of equals" since Humana and Cigna are of similar size, as well as "a likely extended, noisy, and stressful merger review process," Fidel wrote in the note.
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