Guardian Life and Cressey & Company are partnering
Guardian Life and Cressey & Company are announcing a strategic partnership to accelerate growth for Avēsis, a Guardian subsidiary focused on dental, vision and hearing benefits within the government and commercial sector. As a strategic partner, Cressey, a private investment firm focused on building healthcare services and information technology businesses, will make a significant investment to accelerate Avēsis’ product development efforts, deliver new customer experiences, and expand in existing and new markets.
Acquired by Guardian in 2016, Avēsis has grown from 5.8 million to 8.1 million customers in government and 9.2 million customers overall, including customers administered under Medicaid, CHIP and Medicare Advantage programs. Avēsis currently has partnerships with managed care organizations holding government contracts in 13 states.
The agreement between Guardian and Cressey was finalized following regulatory approval, whereby Guardian remains the majority equity holder, while Cressey became a meaningful equity holder providing financial and strategic support effective immediately. With this partnership, 30-year healthcare veteran Sean Slovenski assumes the role of CEO and will lead the execution of Avēsis’ renewed strategy vision.
“Avēsis is now uniquely positioned to leverage Cressey’s outstanding experience and expertise in the fast-growing Medicare and Medicaid space, and its track record of forging winning industry partnerships. By joining forces, Cressey and Guardian will create an expanded platform that meets the needs of our customers and will transform Avēsis as a preferred partner in dental, vision, and hearing benefits for government and commercial markets.” – Chris Smith, head of group benefits at Guardian.
“We feel privileged to collaborate closely with Guardian in this new partnership with Avēsis. With Avēsis’ strong foundation, we have the opportunity to positively impact the healthcare system by focusing on innovation that is centered on empowering customers with an improved approach to delivering supplemental benefits.” – Peter Ehrich, partner at Cressey.
