Exclusive-Software company Enfusion draws takeover interest from private equity, Irenic Capital By Reuters

By Svea Herbst Baylis

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Several people familiar with the matter said the software company Infusion is attracting interest from private equity firms and strategic buyers.

Enfusion’s management has been contacted in recent months by Francisco Partners, Vista Equity Partners and investment firm Irenic Capital Management, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.

Enfusion, which provides cloud-based portfolio management and risk systems for investment funds, is currently valued at nearly $1 billion. Since going public in 2021, Enfusion shares have lost more than half of their value. On Monday, they were trading at $9.18 and have lost 16% this year.

The company has experienced turmoil in the executive ranks, with its CEO and CFO stepping down just months apart from each other last year.

Recently, Irenik had several meetings with new CEO Oleg Movchan regarding a proposed deal at a premium to the current share price, two sources said.

Representatives for Francesco, Vista and Erenich 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 happen.

Airinique, which launched just over a year ago, may work with a private equity firm with experience in software companies to pursue the purchase, one source said. The name of the private equity partner cannot be known.

Irenic, co-founded by Elliott management veteran Adam Katz and former Indaba Capital partner Andy Dodge, recently worked with private equity giant Apollo Global Management (NYSE:) to buy industrial parts company Arconic.

Katz and Dodge met as undergraduates at Harvard University where Katz went on to earn degrees in business and law before moving to Elliott where he worked in the proxy battle of the Arconic hedge fund.

While deal activity slowed this year, software companies focused on financial services continued to attract the attention of potential buyers.

Earlier this month, Nasdaq acquired Adenza for $10.5 billion, and in April, Deutsche Boerse (ETR:) said it was buying SimCorp for $4.3 billion.