WeDoctor Cuts Jobs After IPO Delay

Chinese healthcare platform WeDoctor will lay off a large number of its workers after plans for an initial public offering (IPO) were put on hold.

Sources told Bloomberg News Thursday (March 3) that the company had already cut about 1,000 jobs over the last year — from 4,000 employees to 3,000 — with this latest round of layoffs bringing the company headcount to the mid-to-low-2000s.

In addition, the sources say WeDoctor will reduce salaries and change some compensation packages to offer performance-related bonuses.

Read more: Tencent-Backed WeDoctor Still Planning Huge IPO By February

Now, the company is considering going public via a special purpose acquisition company, instead of a IPO, the sources said. Bloomberg noted that startups face tough rules when going public, especially those that handle sensitive data such as medical information.

In a statement emailed to Bloomberg, WeDoctor said it is optimizing its business lines and improving its compensation system to offer its employees better incentives.

As PYMNTS reported in 2000, WeDoctor initially planned to raise $500 million to $1 billion, and was in the process of raising $350 million ahead of the IPO.

See also: China‘s Regulator Orders Tech Companies to Open ‘Walled Gardens’

WeDoctor filed for an IPO in Hong Kong in 2021, only to see its plans disrupted by the Chinese government crackdown on the private sector. That ongoing campaign has seen numerous companies hit with large fines and resulted in canceled mergers and halted public offerings.

For example, Alibaba was slammed with with a $2.8 billion antitrust penalty, while food delivery platform Meituan was investigated for alleged anti-competitive behavior.

Tencent Holdings, which backs WeDoctor, has seen its merger with Huya and DouYu blocked, while Ant Group saw its own IPO halted.