By Paul Kilby
NEW YORK (IFR) - U.S. health insurer Anthem said on Friday that Bank of America, Credit Suisse and UBS have committed to a $27 billion bridge to back its $54.2 billion acquisition of rival Cigna Corp, according to RLPC.
Anthem plans to pay $188 per share with 55 percent funded through cash and 45 percent through Anthem stock.
Funding will take the form of $6 billion in cash, $21 billion of equity and about $22 billion in new debt and commercial paper, according to Moody's.
"(We) are committed to retaining investment grade ratings," said the company, which carries domestic senior unsecured ratings of Baa2/A/BBB by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
Anthem expects its debt-to-capital ratio to be around 49 percent following the close of the transaction, and aims to reduce that to the low 40 percent range within 24 months.
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Moody's put Anthem's Baa2 senior unsecured debt ratings on review for downgrade on Friday, citing the increased financial leverage from an acquisition that includes the assumption of $5.1 billion of Cigna notes. Morgan Stanley was the financial advisor for Cigna.
(Reporting by Paul Kilby; Editing by Shankar Ramakrishnan)