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Aetna attracts six bidders
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July 6, 2000: 1:30 p.m. ET
Insurer mulls offers from Citigroup and Aegon, ends exclusive talks with ING
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - At least six companies are considering bidding for parts of Aetna Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, which until recently was negotiating exclusively with ING Groep NV, according to a report Thursday.
Aetna has answered preliminary expressions of interest from at least four of them, including American International Group (AIG: Research, Estimates) and Citigroup Inc. (C: Research, Estimates) of the United States, Allianz of Germany and Aegon (AEG: Research, Estimates) of the Netherlands, the Financial Times said, citing people close to the situation. Aetna has sent financial information to all of them, the FT said.
 However, a deal is not expected for a couple of months, because the companies have yet to start due diligence, the newspaper said.
In March, Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna (AET: Research, Estimates) rejected a $10.4 billion offer from Amsterdam-based ING and WellPoint Health Networks (WLP: Research, Estimates), a Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based health insurer. Talks with the Dutch financial services company broke down over the price, but ING (ING: Research, Estimates) still is believed to be interested in buying Aetna's financial and international operations.
Aetna's international operations have been valued at $4.5 billion and its financial arm could fetch about the same, the FT said. Aetna has announced plans to split into two businesses along health-care and financial services lines.
An Aetna spokeswoman confirmed that the company is looking at various buyers outside of ING. An ING spokeswoman said the company is still interested in an acquisition. Allianz and Citigroup were unavailable for comment, while Aegon and AIG declined comment.
Aetna rose 7/8 to 66-3/16 while ING fell 3/16 to 67-1/4 on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading Thursday.
Sale to the highest bidder
Analyst David Shove, of Prudential Securities, said an auction of Aetna's units is an attempt by the company's chief executive, William Donaldson, to maximize the value of Aetna's assets.
"That's what auctions do," he said. "You get the top dollar. And Donaldson knows all these people."
However, the $4.5 billion price tag for Aetna's financial arm is low, Shove said. The unit could go for $5.5 billion while the international could hit $3.5 billion.
"The company could go for $9 billion to $10 billion or maybe a little less than that," Shove said. 
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Aetna
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