Docaposte et La Poste poursuivent leurs acquisitions sur le marché de la santé

La Poste group is more than ever committed to a strategy of expanding its activities in the health market. The acquisition of specialised companies thus seems to be a priority for the group. Whether it is La Poste itself, or its digital subsidiary Docaposte, the announcements follow one another. The latest examples are the takeovers of Happytal and Easy-Consent.

FACTS

• happytal presents itself as a specialist in the digitalisation of the hospital pathway and the support of patients and carers. The service supports software solutions allowing :

  • patients to carry out several online procedures related to their hospitalisation (pre-admission, request for a single room, etc.)

  • health establishments to automate requests for reimbursement by complementary organisations,

  • patients, caregivers and healthcare staff to access a concierge service that brings together several value-added services to facilitate their daily lives in the hospital sector.

• Founded in 2013, happytal is present in over 130 hospitals and has 370 employees.

• The service is now part of La Poste Group's subsidiaries and will thus work in synergy with the other healthcare services owned and supported by the group.

• The amount of the purchase of happytal by La Poste has not been communicated.

CHALLENGES

• Strengthening positions : For La Poste and happytal, this announcement represents a concretisation for a partnership initiated between the group and the start-up in December 2021.

• Strengthening the ambitions of an entire group: Recently, Docaposte acquired the Easy-Consent software, developed by the French company Calimed Santé. The service allows hospital patients to validate their consent to a medical procedure remotely, 100% digitally and securely. The service validates the patients' understanding (of medical terms and of the future protocol concerning them), their signature, and at the same time provides legal protection for doctors.

• Docaposte, for its part, is focusing on strengthening its core business and its skills in the area of electronic signatures and the digital security of consents. To this end, it acquired Idemia at the beginning of the year and is now continuing its action by acquiring Easy-Consent.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The health sector is obviously a high-potential market for many groups, especially since the arrival on this market of innovative and disruptive services such as healthtech start-ups and certain insurance companies. For the giants of the web or bancassurance, it remains difficult to diversify by their own means in this sector and the acquisition of these players thus represents new opportunities for diversification.

• The La Poste group is no exception to this trend and is working hard to extend its skills in this area. On the one hand, it is highlighting its own strengths (by focusing on tele-assistance, visits by the postman or even the delivery of medicines or meals at home), and on the other hand, it is punctuating its strategy with buyouts.

• Thus, in addition to Happytal and Easy-consent, the La Poste group had also recently completed the purchase of Heva by Docaposte. Here again, the aim was to enable the group to strengthen its position in the health sector.