Envestnet, the publicly traded wealthtech company, is exploring a sale, according to a Reuters reports citing confidential sources.
The company has received interest from private equity firms including Bain Capital, sources told Reuters. Envestnet has hired Morgan Stanley to serve as its investment bank in the process and help navigate interest from potential buyers.
An Envestnet spokesman declined to comment.
Shares of Envestnet stock were up almost 10% as of 4 p.m. ET, but shares were up as high as $64.87 this afternoon on news of the sale, up nearly 16% since the start of the trading day. The company was valued at $3.4 billion at the market close on Tuesday.
The company has been subject to acquisition speculation since CEO Judson Bergman and his wife, Mary Miller, died in a car accident in San Francisco in 2019.
Investnet explored his options for sale about two years ago after receiving buyout interest, Bloomberg reported at the time. The publication said the company had been approached by at least one private equity firm interested in buying it.
The company has seen some recent organizational changes at the top. In January, CEO Bill Crager, who took over when Bergman died, announced that he was leaving from his role. He has since transitioned into the role of senior advisor, focusing on client and partner relationships and key strategic initiatives. Chairman James L. Fox is now serving as interim CEO while a search for a successor is underway. Executive Vice President Tom Sipp continues to lead Envestnet's business lines.
Under Crager, Envestnet has grown to oversee $5.4 trillion in client assets on its platform and more than 107,000 advisors served through business units focused on trading, risk analysis, live indexing, tax management, aggregation and data enrichment, customer research and estate planning.
Since Crager took over after Bergman's death in 2019, the company has overcome a number of obstacles, including disputes with activist shareholder Impactive Capital, which acquired a 7.5% stake in the company and two seats on the board in 2022, and layoffs until the end of 2023. It recently announced it was postponing its planned foray into the babysitting business until the end of this year.