BLOOMFIELD, CONN. – September 2, 2025 – Evernorth Health Services (“Evernorth”), a subsidiary of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI), today announced a $3.5 billion investment in Shields Health Solutions (“Shields” or the “Company”), a leading specialty pharmacy management company. Evernorth’s investment coincides with Shields’ establishment as a private standalone company upon its acquisition by Sycamore Partners (“Sycamore”), a leading private equity firm based in New York. This follows Sycamore’s acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance (“WBA”), Shields’ previous owner, which closed on August 28, 2025. Evernorth’s investment in Shields is in the form of preferred stock and is not expected to have a material impact to The Cigna Group’s previously issued 2025 adjusted EPS guidance of at least $29.60.
“Demand for specialty medications continues to grow at an accelerated pace, and Evernorth is uniquely positioned to serve the rapidly expanding number of individuals living with complex and chronic conditions and the doctors who care for them,” said David M. Cordani, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Cigna Group. “Investing in Shields aligns with our commitment to delivering exceptional care across health care settings – from home to physician’s office or clinic, to hospital.”
Shields helps hospitals and health systems develop and manage their own specialty pharmacies. Shields partners with more than 80 health systems comprised of more than 1,000 hospitals and clinics across nearly all 50 states.
Today, Evernorth supports patients living with specialty conditions and the providers who care for them through its direct-to-patient pharmacies, complex medication distributor, inventory management technology, home and ambulatory infusion services and more. Investing in Shields allows Evernorth to seek more opportunities to support patients and providers and enhance continuity of care across specialty health care settings. It also provides optionality for additional investment in Shields over time.
Michael Ham, Shields’ Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our team at Shields has been proud to deliver exceptional clinical, financial and operational outcomes for our health system partners and their patients served through our differentiated care model. Both Sycamore’s acquisition of Shields, and Evernorth’s support for the transaction, demonstrate clear validation of our successful health system-focused specialty pharmacy strategy and patient-focused care model.”
“We are pleased to have worked with Evernorth on this investment as Sycamore establishes Shields as a private standalone company,” said Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore. “The Shields team and Evernorth share an unwavering commitment to patient care and we are proud to support Shields on its next phase of growth.”
Greenhill, an affiliate of Mizuho, is acting as the sole financial advisor to Evernorth during this transaction. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as corporate legal counsel and Holland & Knight LLP is serving as regulatory counsel.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release, and oral statements made in connection with this release, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on The Cigna Group’s current expectations and projections about future trends, events and uncertainties. These statements are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements regarding The Cigna Group’s projected adjusted income from operations outlook for 2025 on a per share basis, the anticipated benefits of the investment, expected demand for specialty medications and our ability to meet that demand, potential future opportunities and additional investments, and other statements regarding The Cigna Group’s future beliefs, expectations, plans, intentions, liquidity, cash flows, financial condition or performance. You may identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "project," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "may," "should," "will" or other words or expressions of similar meaning, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to achieve our strategic and operational initiatives; our ability to adapt to changes in an evolving and rapidly changing industry; our ability to compete effectively, differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors and maintain or increase market share; price competition and other pressures that could compress our margins or result in premiums that are insufficient to cover the cost of services delivered to our customers; the potential for actual claims to exceed our estimates related to expected medical claims; our ability to develop and maintain satisfactory relationships with health care payors, physicians, hospitals, other health service providers and with producers and consultants; our ability to maintain relationships with one or more key pharmaceutical manufacturers or if payments made or discounts provided decline; changes in the pharmacy provider marketplace or pharmacy networks; changes in drug pricing or industry pricing benchmarks; our ability to invest in and properly maintain our information technology and other business systems; our ability to prevent or contain effects of a potential cyberattack or other privacy or data security incident; risks related to our use of artificial intelligence and machine learning; political, legal, operational, regulatory, economic and other risks that could affect our multinational operations, including currency exchange rates; risks related to strategic transactions and realization of the expected benefits of such transactions, as well as integration or separation difficulties or underperformance relative to expectations which could lead to an impairment charge; dependence on success of relationships with third parties; risk of significant disruption within our operations or among key suppliers or third parties; potential liability in connection with managing medical practices and operating pharmacies, onsite clinics and other types of medical facilities; the substantial level of government regulation over our business and the potential effects of new laws or regulations or changes in existing laws or regulations; uncertainties surrounding participation in government-sponsored programs and providing services to payors who participate in government-sponsored programs; the outcome of litigation, regulatory audits and investigations; compliance with applicable privacy, security and data laws, regulations and standards; potential failure of our prevention, detection and control systems; unfavorable economic and market conditions, the risk of a recession or other economic downturn and resulting impact on employment metrics, stock market or changes in interest rates and risks related to a downgrade in financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries; the impact of our significant indebtedness and the potential for further indebtedness in the future; credit risk related to our reinsurers; as well as more specific risks and uncertainties discussed in The Cigna Group’s most recent report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K available through the Investor Relations section of www.thecignagroup.com. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, are not guarantees of future performance or results, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict or quantify. The Cigna Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
About Evernorth Health Services
Evernorth Health Services creates pharmacy, care, and benefits solutions to improve health and increase vitality. We relentlessly innovate to make the prediction, prevention, and treatment of illness and disease more accessible to millions of people. Evernorth capabilities are powered by our businesses, including Express Scripts, Express Scripts® Pharmacy, Accredo, eviCore, and MDLIVE, along with holistic Evernorth platforms and solutions that move people and organizations forward. All Evernorth solutions are serviced and provided by or through operating affiliates of Evernorth Health, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI), or third-party partners. Learn more at evernorth.com.
About Shields Health Solutions
Shields Health Solutions (Shields) is the premier specialty pharmacy accelerator in the country. The Shields Performance Platform, an integrated set of solutions, services and technology, is intentionally designed to elevate payer and drug access for specialty pharmacies, elevate health outcomes for complex patients, and elevate growth throughout the entire health system. As the foremost experts in the health system specialty pharmacy industry, Shields has a proven track record of success including access to over 80 percent of all limited distribution drugs (LDDs) and most (health insurance) payers in the nation; and a clinical model proven to lower total cost of care by 13%. In partnership with nearly 80 health systems across the country through national-scale collaboration, Shields has a vested interest in delivering measurable clinical and financial results for health systems. For more, follow us on social media, @ShieldsRX, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Shields Health Solutions employs more than 2,000 people across the country.
About Sycamore Partners
Sycamore Partners is a private equity firm based in New York. The firm specializes in consumer, distribution and retail-related investments and partners with management teams to improve the operating profitability and strategic value of their business. With approximately $11 billion in aggregate committed capital raised since its inception in 2011, Sycamore Partners' investors include leading endowments, financial institutions, family offices, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds. For more information on Sycamore Partners, visit www.sycamorepartners.com.
Contacts
Evernorth Health Services
Justine Sessions
media@evernorth.com
Shields Health Solutions
Crystal Chuckel, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
cchuckel@shieldsrx.com
Ruth Pachman or Daniel Hoadley
Kekst CNC
ruth.pachman@kekstcnc.com / daniel.hoadley@kekstcnc.com
Sycamore Partners
Michael Freitag, Zach Genirs, Abigail South
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
media@sycamorepartners.com
