Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and Express Scripts, Inc. announced today that the companies closed their $29 billion merger, the largest consummated deal of 2012. Dechert developed the antitrust strategy for Medco and guided the company to an unconditional closing after an extensive eight month review that involved the Federal Trade Commission, 32 state attorneys general, and two Congressional committees.

After AT&T and T-Mobile abandoned their proposed merger in the face of government and private litigation challenges, the Express Scripts/Medco combination was the most watched antitrust merger review in the U.S. In addition to a thorough antitrust investigation by the FTC and the states, the deal was the subject of Congressional hearings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Over 70 members of Congress wrote to the FTC expressing views on the transaction. Opponents orchestrated a furious political and public relations campaign in a futile attempt to deflect attention from the deal’s procompetitive benefits. A last-minute private action sought unsuccessfully to block the deal. 

Dechert partners Mike Cowie and Paul Denis led the antitrust work for Medco and worked closely with the company’s other advisors to develop and execute on complementary government affairs and communication strategies. The Dechert antitrust team also included counsel Paul Frangie and associates C.B. Buente, Eric Cochran, Robert Davis, Jennings Durand, Michael Frankel, Rani Habash, Sean Pugh and David Stanoch.