Health Net Inc. will hold a special meeting of its stockholders on Oct. 23 to approve its merger plan with Centene Corp., the company announced late Monday. The meeting will convene at Health Net headquarters in Woodland Hills. Health Net’s board recommends shareholder approve the merger, in which Centene will pay $6.8 billion. Health Net shareholders will receive 0.622 shares of Centene stock and $28.25 in cash for each share of Health Net stock. After the transaction, St. Louis-based Centene shareholders would own 71 percent of the combined company and Health Net shareholders would own 29 percent. The combined company would have about 10 million policyholders and annual revenue of $37 billion. Also on Monday, Centene filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission about the merger and announced it will hold a shareholder meeting on Oct. 23 in St. Louis. Health Net shares closed down 55 cents or nearly 1 percent to $64.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.