(Bloomberg) — Envestnet Inc., a provider of wealth management software, is attracting buyout interest from buyers including Advent International and GTCR, according to people familiar with the matter.
Private equity firms are among suitors who have expressed interest in a deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based Envestnet has been working with a financial adviser to explore options, they said.
Discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty that either Advent or GTCR will decide to pursue a transaction, the people said. Envestnet could also attract interest from strategic suitors, they said. Representatives for Advent, GTCR and Envestnet declined to comment.
Envestnet's share price was up 4.15% as of 10 a.m. Thursday, giving the company a market value of about $3.8 billion.
Private equity firms have increased their interest in the broad software and financial technology sectors, where businesses tend to have reliable cash flows and can grow through acquisitions.
In April, Advent agreed to buy Canadian payment processor Nuvei Corp. for 6.3 billion dollars, including debt, while GTCR signed an agreement to acquire AssetMark Financial Holdings that valued the wealth management platform's capital at $2.7 billion. Acquiring firms and industry players have also held talks in recent months with payments processor Shift4 Payments Inc.
Envestnet provides software and data to wealth managers, banks and other clients that help them manage and evaluate investments. More than 108,000 advisors and over 1,300 clients use its technology and services, according to in the last annual report. News Bloomberg reported in December that the company was exploring a sale of Yodlee, a data-aggregation firm it acquired in 2015.
Reuters reported in April, Envestnet is exploring a sale after receiving buyout interest.