Suitors lining up for the $1bn-plus Nuix are thought to be busy scanning sales documents for the investigative analytics and intelligence software company, with first round bids in the sales process understood to be due in early September.
Parties earlier said to be looking were Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital, along with Hellman and Friedman, Apax Partners and Vista Equity Partners.
It comes as the company prepares to ramp up its initial public offering plans in a dual track process run through Macquarie Capital and Morgan Stanley, as first revealed by DataRoom.
Fund managers will have an opportunity to learn more about the company that has more than 1000 clients in 79 countries on Wednesday September 2 when meetings take place, as first flagged by this column on Monday.
Nuix — the New Universal Intelligence Exchange — was started in 2000 by a group of computer scientists and has grown organically from a select customer base in Australia to a global marketplace.
The business is about 70 per cent-owned by Macquarie Group and it remains unclear whether Macquarie plans to divest its entire interest should it head to the market for a listing.
It has a software platform for indexing, searching, analysing and extracting knowledge from unstructured data.
Applications include digital investigation, cybersecurity, e-discovery, information governance and email migration and privacy.
Nuix has been earmarked for a listing before, in 2016, when it was slated to head to the market as a company worth at least $1bn.
DataRoom revealed it was back up for sale last year.
The company and its advisers are expected to promote its long-term relationships with high-profile government and law enforcement agencies, large enterprises, advisory and law firms.
Also expected to be talked up is its attraction at a time that a growing amount of data is being created and stored, there is an increased focus on governance, risk and compliance functions and more significant consequences associated with data privacy breaches.
With a profit margin of more than 85 per cent in 2020, the business is both earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation positive and cash flow positive.
Nuix generated revenue of $175m in the 2020 financial year, growing at about 16 per cent annually since 2018.
The company developed its first use case with the Australian government in 2006.
Among its contracts are some with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the group’s services have been used in the Panama Papers tax investigation.
Other groups heading to the market this year include the $1bn-plus law firm HWL Ebsworth through Macquarie Capital.
Meanwhile, as Quadrant Private Equity moves forward with plans for a listing of its Adore Beauty online cosmetics company, there is talk that prospective investors could have some competition, with a suitor said to be also circling the asset.
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