Discovery计划通过并购加速Vitality在美国扩张

Discovery Ltd. is accelerating the US rollout of its flagship wellness program as South Africa’s biggest health-insurance provider seeks to diversify its business and generate more revenue outside its home market.

The Johannesburg-based company has long had a relationship with John Hancock Life Insurance Co. to offer the plan known as Vitality to its customers in the US. It’s s now looking to deepen its foothold in the world’s largest economy with acquisitions.

“The market that we have now opened up is $130 billion of fees,” Chief Executive Officer Adrian Gore said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Vitality offers discounts to people who keep fit and choose healthy food options in a bid to lower insurance claims. To sustain its growth, Discovery bought corporate wellness and health-coaching company WellSpark from Emblemhealth in 2024.

It has since added Ramp Health, which provides on-site healthcare at companies, and this month bought Icario — a health engagement-technology firm that works primarily with US government-sponsored plans including Medicaid and Medicare Advantage — for about $59.5 million.

Annual US healthcare spending reached $5.3 trillion in 2024 and is expected to touch almost $7.2 trillion in 2031, growing more quickly than the economy through the start of the next decade, according to government estimates.

A 62-year-old who trained as an actuary, Gore started Discovery in 1992, with the company initially focusing on private health insurance.

It has since expanded into banking and asset management as it partnered with firms across Europe, the US, China, Singapore and Australia.

Those deals have given Discovery access to data on millions more customers for its Vitality program, using the information to model the impact of behavioral changes on healthcare costs and well-being while incentivizing customers to make healthier choices.

It is also looking to deepen its business in China, where it operates primarily through a strategic equity partnership with Ping An Insurance Group, one of China’s largest financial institutions.

Ping An’s profit grew 31% in the year through June, delivering more than 1 billion rand in dividends to Discovery, Gore said.

“If you look at how healthcare is likely to grow both in the US and China, we’ve got a foothold in two exceptional markets of scale, and I think that’s important,” he said.

The insurer is in talks with partners in Europe about more potential deals after ending its exclusive arrangement with Italy’s Assicurazioni Generali Spa last year, and is optimistic it will to clinch a deal in the next 12 months.

The expansions will help Discovery generate growth of as much as 20% annually until 2030 and lift the global contribution to as much as 35% of earnings from about 22% in the year through June.

Read more: Earnings at South Africa’s Discovery Surge; Bank Reports Profit

Its South African business, which is also expected expand by 15% annually, will shrink to about 65% over the period as the base expands.

“It is not one or the other — they are both growing and so the faster they both grow, the better,” Gore said.

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