Anthem Ends Battle for Cigna After Court Deals Blow to Deal

By Jef Feeley, Zachary Tracer and David McLaughlin, Bloomberg News

Anthem Inc.’s nearly two-year effort to buy rival insurer Cigna Corp. is officially dead.

Anthem said Friday that it won’t appeal a Delaware judge’s ruling late Thursday that Cigna can walk away from the $48 billion health insurance merger. That leaves the companies to fight over who’s to blame for the deal’s collapse.

“The only surprise here is that it took so long to reach an ending that the market had long anticipated,” said Michael Newshel, an analyst with Evercore ISI.

The judge’s decision means Anthem could be on the ...