PE Deals

Welsh Carson taps Goldman, Credit Suisse to explore options for Clearwater Analytics

The new capital would help Clearwater expand into the European and Asian markets as the company continues growing rapidly, two people close to the process said.

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Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has tapped Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to explore options for Clearwater Analytics, sources familiar with the matter told PE Hub.

The firm will evaluate both a capital raise through a recapitalization that brings on a new private investor or investors, as well as a potential IPO of the fintech business, sources said.

The new capital would help Clearwater expand into the European and Asian markets as the company continues growing rapidly, two people close to the process said.

Pursuing an IPO after the recapitalization is not out of consideration either, one source said.

Clearwater is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of automated investment accounting, performance, compliance, and risk reporting and analytics. The company enables its clients – insurance companies, asset managers, banks and other institutions – to aggregate, cleanse and reconcile data from custody banks, data providers and investment managers.

Some of Clearwater’s clients include Cisco, Oracle, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, PIMCO and Wells Fargo.

For WCAS, which first invested in the fintech provider in September 2016, Clearwater is set to produce a substantial return, the people said.

Clearwater has grown rapidly through the years and is now producing around $100 million in EBITDA, some of the sources said.

The process for the company, which launched about a month ago, has attracted a number of interested parties and is viewed as highly competitive, they said.

According to one source, the company is having conversations with 25-plus sponsors, making it tough to compete.

Outside of fintech, WCAS has been running a process for InnovAge, the country’s largest provider of the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. In June, PE Hub reported that WCAS was approaching a full or partial sale of the company.

WCAS, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse declined to comment. Clearwater did not return PE Hub’s requests for comment.

Action Item: Read PE Hub’s story on WCAS process for InnovAge.