By David French and Krystal Hu
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Clearwater Analytics is exploring a sale that could value the private equity-owned investment management software firm at around $2 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, the buyout firm which acquired its majority stake in the business in 2016 for an undisclosed amount, has hired an investment bank to run an auction for Clearwater, according to two of the sources.
Clearwater currently generates around $200 million of revenue annually, according to three of the sources.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the information isn’t public. Welsh Carson and Clearwater didn’t respond to requests for comments.
Boise, Idaho-based Clearwater provides software which assists financial firms and other companies to manage their investment portfolios, including accounting and reporting tasks.
Its clients include the international arm of Sompo Holdings, Cisco Systems Inc and Facebook Inc, with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and India, according to its website.
Technology platforms which aid firms in automating and streamlining processes, known as software-as-a-service (SaaS), are considered attractive investments as businesses seek increased efficiency and lower costs.
Notable fintech SaaS deals so far this year include Plaid’s $5.3 billion sale to Visa Inc and Social Finance Inc’s (SoFi’s) $1.2 billion acquisition of payments software company Galileo Financial Technologies. [nL4N29I3L2] [nL1N2BV1A8]
(Reporting by David French and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
