Software company Enfusion draws takeover interest from private equity, Irenic Capital
26/06/2023 16:36
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Software company Enfusion
Inc ENFN.N is attracting takeover interest from private equity
firms and strategic buyers, several people familiar with the
matter said.
Enfusion's management has been approached in recent months
by Francisco Partners, Vista Equity Partners and investment firm
Irenic Capital Management, said the sources who asked not to be
identified because the talks are private.
Enfusion, which provides cloud-based portfolio management
and risk systems to investment funds, is currently valued at
roughly $1 billion. Since going public in 2021, Enfusion's
shares have lost more than half of their value. On Monday, they
traded at $9.18 and they have lost 16% this year.
The company has experienced turbulence in the executive
ranks, with its chief executive officer and chief financial
officer resigning just months apart from one another last year.
Most recently, Irenic has held multiple meetings with new
chief executive Oleg Movchan about a proposed transaction at a
premium to the current share price, two sources said.
Representatives for Francisco, Vista and Irenic did not
respond to requests for comment and a representative for
Enfusion was not immediately available for comment.
There is no certainty that a deal will occur.
Irenic , which launched a little over a year ago, may work
with a private equity firm that has expertise in software
companies to pursue the purchase, one of the sources said. The
name of the private equity partner could not be learned.
Irenic, which was co-founded by Elliott Management veteran
Adam Katz and former Indaba Capital partner Andy Dodge, recently
worked with private equity giant Apollo Global Management to buy
industrial parts manufacturer Arconic.
Katz and Dodge met as college students at Harvard where Katz
went on to earn business and law degrees before moving to
Elliott where he worked on the proxy battle that the hedge fund
waged at Arconic.
While deal activity has slowed this year, software companies
focused on financial services have continued to attract
attention from potential buyers.
Earlier this month, Nasdaq acquired Adenza for $10.5 billion
and, in April, Deutsche Boerse said it was buying SimCorp for
$4.3 billion.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss
Editing by Nick Zieminski)
((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 856 4331; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))