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Bupa Announces New Acquisitions to Grow its International Teams
Posted on Apr 22, 2013 by Sergio Ulloa (G+)
Internationally renowned health insurance group, Bupa, has been expanding its teams of people and forming new acquisitions that will help to increase the company's international presence. Bupa recently announced the appointment of Grainne Moss as the new head of the health insurance business in New Zealand, called Bupa Care Services NZ, or BCSNZ.
BCSNZ is under the international Bupa Group, serving the New Zealand market. This unit has three elderly care businesses, which include rest homes and hospitals, retirement villages and personal medical alarms, and a brain injury rehabilitation business. The company serves some 16,000 New Zealanders and has more than 3400 staff.
Having worked for the company since 2007, Grainne has a successful background with the group and was most recently positioned in the role of General Manager- Care Homes and Bupa Rehab. While in this role she oversaw the operation of Bupa New Zealand's 49 Care Homes. In addition she worked with more than 3400 employees, customers, key stakeholders and funders making sure that the group provided only the best care for its New Zealand clients. Graine's experience in the healthcare and insurance industry goes beyond Bupa and she has served in various roles in the UK's National Health Service.
Bryan Mogridge, Chairman of BCSCNZ, welcomed Grainne's appointment saying;
"It is very satisfying to have one of our New Zealand team taking over this role from Dwayne Crombie, who is being promoted to be MD of Bupa's health insurance group in Australia. Grainne is an outstanding leader who is more than capable of leading Bupa New Zealand in achieving its ambitious goals..."
In addition to this news, Bupa also recently completed an important and promising acquisition. The international health insurance provider recently took over Lux Med, Poland's largest health insurance provider, from private equity firm Mid Europa Partners for €400 million.
Analysts have predicted that Poland's healthcare industry will grow by 10% annually until 2016, which makes this deal a promising one for Bupa, as the company looks to enter the Polish market. In addition to the company's status as an insurance leader in Poland, the Lux Med also has an extensive network of outpatient and diagnostic facilities, four hospitals and a prominent nursing and residential care home in Warsaw, making Bupa's acquisition all the more prodigious.
The merge will also increase the number of Bupa customers by more than 1.2 million, which is a recovery for the group as its share of the private medical insurance, or PMI, market in the UK has been shaky. The company continues to seek international expansion as recent reports have indicated about a 6% decrease in the number of PMI customers in the UK but about 9% increase in international customers.
Globalsurance analysts believe that both moves will greatly assist the company's vision and further Bupa's international profile.