Eurazeo, GA-backed Doctolib weighs growth financing options

As one of the most famous French unicorns, widely used by French citizens, Doctolib became indispensable since COVID-19 broke out and is deemed as a perfect IPO candidate, three sources familiar said, although a spokesperson for Doctolib clarified it has no plans to carry out an IPO in the near term.

Despite the company having no immediate listing plans preliminary discussions are being held to evaluate the best options between an IPO or a new financial round which would see the entry of a strategic investor, two sources explained.

Banks and lawyers were reached out for advice, but no mandates have been distributed yet, another source noted.

Market jitters and sluggish European economic growth prospects are not ideal for a market-listing in the short-term, but an IPO would attract a solid mix of retail and long-term investors as Doctolib is widely used in France, one source said.

The company, which sits at the intersection of tech and public services, could offer an attractive equity story, a second source said, adding that the company's fast roll-out outside of France is also fuelling investor appetite.

The IPO market has stalled in many European geographies, so it would be premature to embark now on a listing, but if a window opens in the coming months with stable market conditions, Doctolib would be a success story, one of the sources said.

Earlier this year, Doctolib secured a EUR 500m financial round led by Eurazeo with the participation of General Atlantic and French state-controlled investment bank Bpifrance. After this last financial round Doctolib was valued at EUR 5.8bn, as reported.

Bpifrance which entered Doctolib's share capital this year said there was no new stage of growth underway, and that it has no desire to exit the capital. Eurazeo and General Atlantic, declined to comment.

The proceeds of the raise are being used up to recruit 3,500 employees to deploy the platform in 30 cities in France, Germany, and Italy over the next 5 years, according to a previous company statement.

The IPO market has not been an immense success for French unicorns as Cloud storage provider OVH and digital music company Believe have traded disappointingly since their high profile listings, this news service wrote last month.

However, a listing in France could be politically well received as the French government is now pushing for more tech IPOs in the country, a sector lawyer suggested.

On 23 November, French Digital minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced a government plan to boost tech IPOs in Paris and pledged to have 10 French unicorns listed on the Paris stock exchange by 2025, "two of which will be valued at over EUR 5bn," he added.

Given the adverse market conditions the minister also said that this was "a long-term project that we are launching, with results to be assessed in several years' time," according to a government's statement.

Earlier this year President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to create the conditions for another 100 French unicorns to emerge by 2030 seems doable. France just had five unicorns in 2018 but has now around 25 including Doctolib.

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