UnitedHealth Group, Centene and Cigna have recently completed major divestitures of assets outside the U.S. as the companies focus on domestic growth or core business operations.
UnitedHealth Group completed the sale of its health insurance and hospital operations in Brazil in February. UnitedHealth sold the business to a private investor for an undisclosed amount and expects to record a $7 billion charge as a result of the deal, which will be excluded from its adjusted earnings. The company purchased the unit, called Amil Participacoes SA, in 2012 for $4.9 billion. Amil includes more than 5 million health and dental plan members, along with a network of hospitals and clinics that employ more than 20,000 people.
Centene completed the sale of its U.K. companies -- the sale of Operose Health Group was completed in December 2023 and the sale of Circle Health Group was completed in January 2024. Circle Health, one of the U.K.'s largest independent hospital operators, was sold to Pure Health, the largest integrated healthcare network in the Middle East, for $1.2 billion. Operose Health, a chain of 60 clinics, was sold to U.K.-based HCRG Care Group.
Centene completed the sale of its Spanish and central European businesses to Vivalto Santé, a French private hospital group, in November 2022. Centene sold Ribera Salud, a Spanish hospital operator; Torrejón Salud, a public-private partnership in Madrid; and Pro Diagnostics Group, which owns clinics providing radiology and other services in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Cigna completed the sale of its international insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand in July 2022 to property and casualty insurer, Chubb, in a $5.4 billion deal. Cigna said $3.5 billion of the proceeds will be used to fund an accelerated share repurchase.