Executive Summary

• In recent days, a number of major news outlets have published stories about Walmart and Humana possibly being in talks about a partnership, outright acquisition, investment or some other kind of tie-up.
• If Walmart were to acquire Humana, it would provide Walmart with several benefits, including increased customer traffic and a closer relationship with Medicare users—particularly seniors—as well as access to a wealth of data that the combined companies would generate.
• The companies have made no public announcement about a deal, and any partnership or tie-up could take a number of forms. The talks could also fall through prior to the companies reaching any agreement.
• Amazon’s anticipated entry into the pharmacy space has likely hastened several other retailer-healthcare company mergers, including the recent CVS Health-Aetna and Cigna-Express Scripts deals.