FHP Sells Subsidiary Amid Long Restructuring Efforts

FHP International Corp. said Wednesday that it sold a subsidiary that packages managed care programs in a deal that was a byproduct of its 10-month-long restructuring effort.

FHP sold its UltraLink unit in Costa Mesa to German-owned Allianz Life Insurance Co. of America in Minneapolis for an undisclosed sum. FHP said it will realize a “slight gain” on the transaction.

All but three of the 73 UltraLink employees will keep their jobs under the new ownership, FHP said. The unit also will move to offices elsewhere in Orange County, possibly in Costa Mesa or Irvine, said Chris Coulter, Ultra-Link’s chief executive, who will remain as its top executive.

Last summer, FHP embarked on a major restructuring plan aimed at switching the health maintenance organization from serving its members through its own hospitals and doctors to contracting with others for those services.

The restructuring called for the sale of the company’s hospitals in Fountain Valley and Utah, the conversion of its captive medical group into one that provides services for other plans and a refocusing on its HMO business.

But as the company pursued the restructuring, Coulter said, “I think it made it clear to them that we weren’t a part of that picture.” UltraLink accredits and oversees a variety of managed care programs provided both by FHP and other companies.

Allianz is a unit of Allianz Group, a publicly owned insurance company based in Munich.