Rothschild is acting as financial adviser to Planisware, two of the people, who declined to be named, said. BNP Paribas and Citigroup have been lined up to arrange a possible initial public offering (IPO), one person added.

The company, which provides cloud project management solutions to clients including drugmaker Pfizer and French bank Societe Generale, last reported sales of $130 million in 2021, representing a 20% increase from the year prior

The people said the exploration of strategic options by Planisware, which is led by its CEO and co-founder Pierre Demonsant, is preliminary and may not lead to a transaction.

Private equity group Ardian, which holds an undisclosed stake in Planisware through its growth capital arm, declined to comment.

Spokespeople for BNP Paribas, Citi, and Rothschild declined to comment. Planisware did not respond to requests for comment.

Planisware's deliberations come at a quiet time for European IPOs, after soaring interest rates and economic uncertainty nearly froze the market last year.

In France, IPO volumes plunged in 2022 to levels similar to the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. So far this year there have only been two deals, with combined proceeds of 26 million euros ($29 million), according to Dealogic data.

In what will be a multi-billion dollar deal, French carmaker Renault recently picked banks for a potential listing of its electric vehicle unit Ampere.