Aetna Agrees to InterGlobal Purchase

American insurance giant, Aetna International, has today revealed the finalization of a deal which would see the company purchase InterGlobal, a UK headquartered global health insurance provider. The deal was announced at 8:30am on November 25th 2013, and is currently awaiting final approval from both UK and US regulators.

Whilst Aetna International has agreed to acquire InterGlobal through the purchase of the company’s shares (including those held by InterGlobal majority Shareholder, Alchemy Partners), no movement on the deal will occur until final regulatory approval is given – presently forecast for Q2 2014 at the earliest. While awaiting regulator approval neither Aetna nor InterGlobal are allowed to collaborate with each other, in any format.

This means that, until finalization of the acquisition is given, it is very much a case of “business as usual” at these two major insurance companies. Despite the uncertainty as to where the final deal will take the two organizations all global health insurance products being offered by both Aetna and InterGlobal remain the same; with no changes to the companies’ respective product portfolios set to occur until after the agreement has been finalized. As such, InterGlobal’s new range of international health insurance plans are still set for launch shortly after January 1st 2014, giving health insurance consumers in Hong Kong further choice with regards to their local medical insurance options.

This is not the first time that Aetna has purchased a leading international private medical insurance company. In 2007 Aetna acquired leading international provider, Goodhealth International, which was then consumed by the Aetna brand. It is unknown at this time whether InterGlobal will become a part of the Aetna brand, or allowed to retain its own corporate identity in much the same way that IHI Danmark retained its own branding following the purchase by Bupa in 2005.

At the moment there are a large number of uncertainties around the deal, but CCW analysts agree that this is a significant development for Aetna as it helps the company improve its brand off the back of InterGlobal’s strong presence in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.