Aetna CFO Shawn Guertin to step down next year

Aetna Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin, who was slated to become the CFO of CVS Health when the two companies' merge is finalized, will instead leave the company in June 2019 "for personal and family reasons," CVS said Wednesday.

The announcement came hours after the federal antitrust enforcers said they would allow pharmacy chain and benefit manager CVS to merge with insurer Aetna in a $69 billion deal following the divestiture of Aetna's Medicare Part D business to WellCare Health Plans.

CVS said Eva Boratto, the company's chief accounting officer and controller, would become CFO when the deal closes, which is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2018. Guertin will remain with CVS through the middle of next year to help the combined company with integration and financial planning strategy.

Ana Gupte, equity analyst at Leerink Partners, said in a Wednesday research note that Guertin's exit, combined with the previously announced departure of CVS CFO David Denton "could pose some challenges given the complexity of the pricing and underwriting in the (Aetna) business amid the considerable integration challenges."