A new company called Aptia has been formed following the purchase of the US health and benefits administration and UK pension administration businesses of Mercer.

Launched with support from Bain Capital Insurance, the new company combines the two businesses purchased from Mercer and will continue to provide service, support and benefits plan management to more than 5 million people across over 1,100 clients.

Aptia will manage the defined benefit administration platform in the UK and the employee benefits administration platform in the US.

Bain Capital Insurance’s investment aims to build on its experience building insurance businesses in the US, with the transaction expected to be completed in late 2023, subject to approval.

Kirkland & Ellis, Deloitte LLP, and EY-Parthenon advised Bain Capital Insurance on the deal, while Marsh McLennan was advised by Hogan Lovells.

The new company announced that its CEO will be Bala Viswanathan, who has been the chief operating officer of Mercer since Marsh McLennan purchased JLT in 2019 and was CEO of JLT’s employee benefits business.

Its chair will be Dominic Burke, who was group CEO of JLT from 2005 to 2019 and then served as vice chair of Marsh McLennan.

Commenting on the announcement, Viswanathan said: “Aptia will focus exclusively on employee benefits administration and specialist pension administration delivered by experts and enabled by technology.

“In partnership with Bain Capital, we will seek to create a genuinely differentiated and highly responsive client experience that will resonate strongly in the marketplace.”

Burke added: “Digital enablement is underpenetrated in these sectors. We see a clear opportunity to empower our people by continuously investing in the leading technologies they need to efficiently deliver specialised client solutions.

“We will also prioritise our people from day one by establishing a supportive learning culture that offers the foundation for growth and development both in and outside of the workplace.”

Share Story: