By Milana Vinn
(Reuters) -Buyout firm Thoma Bravo is exploring a $3 billion-plus sale of Apryse, after receiving interest from potential buyers of the document processing software provider, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Thoma Bravo is working with investment bankers at Lazard on the sale process, said the sources, noting interest had already come from other private equity firms.
As part of any deal, Thoma Bravo may decide to retain a minority stake in Apryse, the sources said. They also cautioned that no sale was guaranteed and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.
Thoma Bravo declined to comment, while Apryse and Lazard did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Denver, Colorado-based Apryse provides document processing technology for developers of mobile and computer applications, allowing them to create, edit, and convert digital documents, as well as integrate such capabilities into their own applications.
Its customers include Novartis, Wells Fargo and DocuSign, according to its website.
Apryse generates more than $100 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and is growing more than 20 percent annually, the sources said.
Any deal is expected to value the company at 30x its EBITDA or higher, the sources added.
PDFTron, the previous name of Apryse, was founded in 1998 as a document processing technology platform. It was acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2021, with the investment led by the co-head of Thoma’s Discover platform, Hudson Smith. The company was renamed as Apryse two years later. Silversmith Capital Partners and the company’s management team have remained minority shareholders in the business.
Apryse has completed nine add-on acquisitions to expand its functionality and global reach since Thoma Bravo acquired the company. These include Netherlands-based digital document processor TallComponents, which was announced earlier this week, and AI-powered software maker Lead Technologies, completed last year.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
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