For patient, steel-nerved investors, though, there could still be big profits to be made. A wager placed Friday that Aetna Inc. will complete its $34 billion takeover of rival health insurer Humana Inc., for example, is set to return some 22% should the deal close on schedule in late 2016. The spread, which largely reflects nervousness that regulators will reject the deal and possibly an accompanying tie-up between Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp., rose from 21.2% a week earlier. That is a relatively modest move showing that not all spreads widened dramatically last week. (Raice and Hoffman, 8/24) Modern Healthcare: Inovalon To Acquire Avalere For $140M Inovalon, a publicly traded healthcare analytics company, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health. The purchase price is $140 million, which is composed of $135 million of cash and $5 million of restricted stock.