Carl Icahn drops opposition to Express Scripts-Cigna merger

By Robert King

Published August 14, 2018 4:04pm ET

Carl Icahn drops opposition to Express Scripts-Cigna merger — Carl Icahn, billionaire activist investor, waits for Donald Trump, president and chief executive of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, not pictured, to speak at an election night event in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. Trump, the billionaire real-estate mogul, got a major boost in his quest to secure the Republican nomination with a majority of delegates but could not eliminate the possibility of a contested convention. | (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)

Activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his controversial opposition to the merger of insurer Cigna and pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, after previously bashing the $60 billion deal.

Icahn’s investment firm said in a statement late Monday that he was abandoning his attempt to stop the deal, but did not elaborate. Icahn holds a small stake in Cigna.