Health insurance firm complete deal

Cinven, the recently announced buyer of 25 BUPA private hospitals in the UK, have paid £1.44 billion for the privilege. The private equity group beat off stiff competition to make the final cut. Health insurance company BUPA will now focus more on their private medical insurance business.

Cinven held off CVC and Terra Firma, both private equity groups, to purchase the hospitals. It is thought that they were chosen due to their healthcare experience both in the UK and abroad.

Cinven now have a significant stake in the private hospital market, alongside six other main players. General Healthcare is the largest, with 49 private hospitals in the UK. The acting general manager at NHS Partners, Graham Kendall, reportedly commented: I expect some degree of consolidation in the sector... We're going through quite a shift at the moment; the government has encouraged independent providers to get into the [ health care] market.

BUPA will now concentrate on medical insurance, a market in which they have a 40 per cent share.