CIGNA Acquires UK Foothold

Cigna will acquire FirstAssist Insurance Services, a travel and protection insurance company based in the United Kingdom, from Barclays Private Equity. The acquisition will add a new product line to Cigna's global portfolio, enabling the company to expand its individual business. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected to close this year.

“Cigna is continually seeking opportunities to grow our business around the world - it's part of our ‘Go Deep. Go Global. Go Individual.’ strategy,” says William L. Atwell, president of Cigna International.

FirstAssist, which has 480 employees, has nearly 3 million policyholders in the UK. According to Cigna, travel in major European and Asian markets is up an average of 8% in 2010, which presents an opportunity to expand the business on a worldwide scale.

In addition to expansion into the UK, Atwell says FirstAssist brings an expanded product range that is new to Cigna's portfolio and can be offered to partners and customers in Europe and Asia, as well as doubling the number of Cigna’s affinity partners. FirstAssist maintains relationships with about 150 local, pan-European and multinational affinity partners.

Go back to the Managed Healthcare Executive eNews newsletter.