Aetna has acquired health insurance provider Bupa Thailand, a unit of Bupa group’s Thai business, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition provides an opportunity for Aetna to expand its business in Asia.
Aetna serves more than 700,000 members worldwide, including expatriates, local nationals and business travelers.
Health care benefits provider Aetna said that with the combined knowledge of Aetna and Bupa, the former can offer wide range of choices to the Thailand customers with the same service rate provided by Bupa.
Bupa will be operating under its own brand for a short span of time before rebranding Bupa Thailand as Aetna.
Aetna international president Richard di Benedetto said: “Thailand is an important market for us, with increasing local wealth driving greater adoption of health insurance. Aetna’s wide product portfolio, together with an excellent talent and knowledge base transferring from Bupa, will put us in a very strong position in the local market.”
Bupa which means British United Provident Association was established in 1947 in UK to provide health care.
Health insurer Bupa Thailand was established over 30 years and has more than 300,000 members with a network of over 400 health care providers in the country.
Recently, Bupa has signed an agreement to acquire a unit of Nazer Group to boost its stake in Bupa Arabia by 8% from 26.25% to 34.25%. The acquisition has secured regulatory approval from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) authorities.
Image: Aetna building in Hartford, Connecticut. Photo: courtesy of Sage Ross.