Aetna Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini will resign his position after the company is acquired by CVS Health Corp., and will be succeeded by Aetna President Karen Lynch, who will oversee day-to-day operations.
Bertolini will join the board of directors for CVS Health once CVS Health's $69 billion acquisition of Aetna closes.
Under the post-deal management structure, Lynch will also serve as executive vice president of CVS Health. Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, will become the CEO of the combined company.
The combination with Aetna will help consumers, Thomas M. Moriarty, executive vice president, chief policy and external affairs officer, and general counsel, CVS Health, said.
“The high cost of prescription drugs is one of the nation's most pressing problems and a major source of financial worry for consumers here in Connecticut and across the country,” Moriarty said at a Connecticut Insurance Department hearing on the merger.
“Aetna sees this as the next and most important step in our own journey to really put consumers at the center of their care,” Lynch said.
Meanwhile, Shawn Guertin, Aetna's executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief enterprise risk officer, has decided to step down from those posts for personal and family reasons once the transaction is complete.
Guertin will remain with CVS Health until June 2019 in order to help the merged companies with integration and financial planning strategy, CVS Health said.
Eva Boratto will become the new executive vice president and CFO of CVS Health Corp. following the completion of the deal. Boratto is currently the CVS Health's executive vice president, controller and chief accounting officer.
—Frank Klimko and Thomas Harman