Swiss dental startup vVardis is preparing for a US stock listing. The news comes less than two months after the company's liquid treatment for early cavities, Curodont, helped push its valuation past $1 billion without using a drill.
Advisers Are in Place, but the Timing Is Open
According to Bloomberg, vVardis has retained JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs as advisers and is working toward a US stock listing. Some observers suggest the company could command a higher valuation than it did during its April funding round. There has been speculation that the listing could happen as early as this year, but vVardis has not made a final decision, and the plans, including the timing, could still change, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives for vVardis declined to comment, underscoring that the listing is not yet confirmed. Retaining investment banks as advisers is only the first step in the listing process: vVardis has not yet filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Next Step, Two Months Later
A previous article on this page, Apollo Global Management's investment, covered the moment vVardis's valuation was set through that funding round. This article looks at the next step: preparing for the listing. Curodont is a treatment applied to early cavity lesions before a hole has formed, using a peptide-based liquid that helps the tooth repair itself with minerals from saliva. It can be applied in a dental office in minutes, without a drill or anesthesia, and the company is co-run by two sisters, both former dentists, who together hold about 70% of its shares.
What Changes If It Goes Public
Curodont is currently distributed to about 20% of US dental practices through Henry Schein. vVardis has said it plans to use the proceeds from a listing to expand into markets outside Europe and to fund research, development and marketing. Few privately held European healthcare companies have crossed a $1 billion valuation without outside investment, and vVardis is choosing to raise capital directly on the public markets rather than take on more debt through acquisitions. That marks a different path from dental chains that grew by piling on private equity debt, like the one described in this page's recent piece on Aspen Dental's debt crisis.
There is no evidence yet that vVardis or Curodont has entered the South Korean market. The company has said only that it would use listing proceeds to expand into markets outside Europe, without confirming whether Asia or South Korea is included. That means nothing is likely to change in South Korean dental offices right away even if the listing goes through, though the idea of drill-free cavity treatment itself could still draw interest domestically.