St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • A6

Saturday 08.25.2018 a6 1 rEutErS Shareholders of Express Scripts Holding Co. on Friday voted in favor of its proposed $52 billion sale to Cigna, but the deal still needs antitrust approval to move forward. Nearly 80 percent of St. Louis County-based Express Scripts shareholders voted for the merger. Cigna shareholders on Friday also approved the deal.

approving our proposed combination, Cigna and Express Scripts stockholders recognize and validate the highly attrac- tive value this transaction deliv- ers to all said Tim Wentworth, president and CEO of Express Scripts, in a state- ment. we will trans- form healthcare by combining two innovative health care ser- vices companies that will have the capabilities, financial flex- ibility, reach and expansion op- portunities to create significant and immediate value for clients and The vote for the merger was expected after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn walked away last week from his eleventh-hour attempt to rally shareholders to reject the deal. The U.S. Department of Justice is still conducting an antitrust review of the combination that is not expected to close until later this year. According to the preliminary results, about 90 percent of Cigna votes cast were in favor of the merger agreement, the com- pany said.

The merger is slated to close by end of 2018. The insurer agreed to buy Ex- press Scripts in March saying the two companies could save more on health care costs for clients if they better coordinated medical care with prescriptions. But since then, Express Scripts has come under stiffer opposi- tion from the administration of President Donald Trump, law- makers and drugmakers as be- ing a middleman that drives up drug costs. Icahn had argued that Cigna was overpaying given prospects for reduced profits. He backed down after share- holder advisory groups recom- mended that shareholders vote for the deal.

plan for the acquisition comes as Express ma- jor rival CVS Health and Aetna move forward on their own merger. deal to be bought by Anthem fell apart last year af- ter it failed to pass antitrust re- view. Express Scripts, Cigna approve merger CHRISTIAN GOODEN Employees in advanced analytics work in the Express Scripts Technology and Innovation Lab building on March 8. rEutErS Federal Reserve Chairman Je- rome Powell on Friday defended the U.S. central push to raise interest rates as healthy for the economy and signaled more hikes were coming despite Presi- dent Donald criticism of higher borrowing costs.

The Fed, which began to tighten monetary policy in 2015, has raised rates twice this year and is widely expected to do so again next month and in December. Speaking at a research sym- posium in Jackson Hole, Powell said he wanted to today why my colleagues and I believe that this gradual process remains economy is strong. In- flation is near our 2 percent ob- jective, and most people who want a job are finding one If the strong growth in income and jobs continues, further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will likely be Powell made no mention of criticism of the monetary policy. In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Trump said he was with Fed for raising rates and said the central bank should do more to help boost the economy. In his speech, Powe i ly made the case that gradual rate hikes are the best way to protect the U.S.

economic recov- ery and keep job growth as strong as possible and inflation under control. The benchmark 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite hit re- cord highs after speech while the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies. Traders of interest rate futures kept their bets on rate hikes in both September and December. The Kansas City annual conference in Grand Teton Na- tional Park is among the cen- tral higher profile annual events, drawing international media attention and an audi- ence including representatives of other central banks. Trump is the econ- omy with fiscal stimulus and then asking that you tighten interest rates, but the Fed is normalizing monetary policy, not really tightening ac- companying the recovery and lifting rates up to the point where they are Laurence Boone, the chief economist of the OECD, said on the sidelines of the conference.

conditions are very good, and (Powell) is tightening in line with those Boone said. Antoinette Schoar, an econo- mist who teaches at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said the Fed should remain the policy should not have anything to do with said Schoar, who is also attending the Jackson Hole conference. NOt ON BOard Fed funds and eurodollar futures prices indicate financial markets expect only one rate hike next year, leaving rates in a range of 2.50 percent to 2.75 percent by mid-2019, up from the cur- rent target of 1.75 percent to 2.00 percent. Fed policymakers forecast three rate hikes for next year in their most recent projections, published in June. Not all of the central policymakers, however, are on board with plans.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said earlier on Friday prefer a pause on the rate hikes, given that the economic stimulus from the Trump tax cuts and a budget agreement that boosts government spend- ing will likely fade next year. Other policymakers present in Jackson Hole this week have flagged what they see as the risks from trade poli- cies, which have led to tit-for-tat tariffs with China, the European Union, Canada and others. Two days of talks between Washington and Beijing ended on Thursday with no major breakthrough as their trade war escalated with activation of an- other round of dueling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each coun- goods. Powell said the mistakes of the past, such as a misestima- tion of full employment that al- lowed inflation to take off in the 1970s, mean the central bank to- day should not assume its cur- rent estimates of those economic variables are precise.

The Fed been navigating between the shoals of overheat- ing and premature tightening with only a hazy view of what seem to be shifting navigational Powell said. Powell defends policy of gradual interest rate hikes Powell Deal is awaiting regulatory approval Join the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for the inaugural PRESENTED BY BENEFITING OVER 200 LOCAL CHARITIES WHEN: September 29 Match starts at 4 p.m.; Gates open at 3 p.m. WHERE: Polo Club Defiance, MO WHAT: Watch Team take on Team WHY: To benefit over 200 local charities Tickets available at STLtoday.com/ourevents This event features BBQ from Sugarfire Smokehouse, desserts by Banquet and Catering, Liquid Spirits drinks, Stange Law Firm Area with a bounce house and snow cones. Enjoy divot stomping with sparkling wine and chocolates from Cedar Lake Cellars and The Chocolate Pig.

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