Aetna to Sponsor UK Olympic Beach Volleyball Hopefuls

LONDON, April 23, 2012 — With just three months to go before the start of London 2012, Great Britain’s Olympic beach volleyball squad and leading global health benefits company Aetna (NYSE: AET) announce today their deal for Aetna to become the squad’s first major commercial sponsor.

The Olympic beach volleyball tournament will occur in July and will be staged at the Horse Guards Parade. Tickets for this event are already the most oversubscribed of the entire Games. The relationship between Aetna and the UK Volleyball team covers 2012 whilst also bringing the athletes much needed financing to aid their progress in the Olympic Games.

The news comes as Team GB continue their preparations for the Games and their bid to secure extra team spots in both the men’s and women’s competitions, in addition to two automatic spots as the host to the women’s and men’s competition. Team GB has also represented at the Games on only one previous occasion, at Atlanta in 1996, when the women’s team participated.

Under the terms of the sponsorship, Team GB players’ kits will carry the Aetna logo as they face a hectic travel, training and qualifying tournament schedule in the lead up to the Games. The sponsorship was brokered by sports specialist Beach Volleyball UK Ltd.

David Healy, General Manager of Europe, Aetna International, said: “We’re proud to offer our support to Team GB as they seek to use London 2012 as a launchpad to grow interest and participation in beach volleyball.

As an organisation, we are committed to empowering people to live healthier lives through the provision of both insurance and health management services. This partnership is the perfect fit for us, given the fact that volleyball is a sport that can be played by almost anyone, yet it also demands its competing athletes maintain the highest levels of health, nutrition and fitness.”

Richard Callicott, President of the British Volleyball Federation, said: “This significant sponsorship with Aetna is wonderfully welcome as an opportunity to intensify our preparations and continuing efforts to both qualify and perform at the London 2012 Games.

It gives us particular pleasure to work with a leading company in the global health care industry, given the emphasis of our sport on activity, strength, fitness and high-quality athleticism, in addition to well-being and fun.”

GB Head Beach Coach, Morph Bowes, furthermore added that the sponsorship will allow the Squad to focus on its efforts on the FIVB Swatch World Beach Tour and other Olympic qualifying events in a bid to qualify both women's teams for the Horse Guards Parade event, and to further support the best efforts of a men's team in their bid to represent their country.

About Aetna International
Aetna International is committed to helping create a stronger, healthier global community by delivering comprehensive health benefits and health management solutions worldwide. Aetna International's expatriate business is one of the industry's largest and most prominent international health benefits providers, supporting more than 430,000 members worldwide. The organisation’s expatriate offerings include medical, dental, vision, life, disability and emergency assistance. Aetna International’s health management business collaborates with health care systems, government entities and plan sponsors around the world to design and build locally-applied health management solutions to improve health, quality and cost outcomes. For more information, see www.aetnainternational.com.

About Aetna
Aetna is a leading diversified health care benefits company headquartered in the United States, serving approximately 36.4 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioural health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, health care management services for Medicaid plans and health information exchange technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labour groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.