Sources say private equity firms are weighing bids
Black Knight is mulling a possible sale after getting takeover interest from some private equity firms, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
News has broken that the mortgage lending software and analytics provider is potentially up for sale. According to sources who asked not to be identified, Black Knight is in talks with potential buyers and is working with advisers to assist it.
Black Knight, which has a market cap of $8.9 billion, hasn’t decided if it will go forward with a sale or choose to stay independent, the sources said. Billionaire investor Bill Foley is one of Black Knight’s biggest shareholders, with a 2.2% stake as of a filing in December. He stepped down as chairman of the company in June.
Black Knight’s shares, which had tumbled 21% in the past year, jumped nearly 12% on Tuesday – its biggest one-day since 2015. The stocks closed at $66.27 in New York Trading, bringing the company’s market value to approximately $10.3 billion.
In February, the Florida-based company acquired the remaining shares in fintech firm Optimal Blue for $1.2 billion.
Read more: Black Knight moves to buy the rest of Optimal Blue from co-investors
Commenting on the move, Black Knight CEO Anthony Jabbour said: “The performance of Optimal Blue has been outstanding by any measure. The integration has gone very well, and there continue to be opportunities to go even further with our industry-leading solutions. We are looking forward to the continued strong performance of Optimal Blue and the great cross-sell opportunities we have as we move forward as one company.”
