Cerulean purchased all the stock of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia after it converted to a for-profit organization in 1996. A convertible common stock to each eligible Blue Cross and Blue Shield subscriber. As of Feb. 28, there were 351,550 shares of class A stock outstanding. With the addition of the Cerulean membership, WellPoint will diversify its operations further by increasing its non-California membership. Moreover, the Georgia managed care market has some significant growth potential.
Cerulean seems to be well-positioned to take advantage of that condition.
In recent years, the company has begun to refocus its operations on its HMO and POS plans. WellPoint also announced today that it has amended the terms of its stock repurchase program to allow for the repurchase of an additional 7 million shares of its out-standing common stock. With the amendment, Wellpoint can repurchase up to 8 million shares. All repurchased shares will be available for reissue. Compared to other recent transactions, WellPoint seems to have gotten a good deal.