Advent Is Said to Explore Taking Payments Firm Xplor Public

(Bloomberg) -- Advent International is considering taking payments company Xplor Technologies public, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The private equity firm is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to weigh an initial public offering for Atlanta-based Xplor or a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public.

The company could be worth at least $4 billion and perhaps more than $6 billion, the people said.

A final decision hasn’t been made and Boston-based Advent could opt to keep Xplor private, the people said.

Representatives for Advent, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup declined to comment. A spokesperson for Xplor didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xplor was valued at $3 billion, including debt, in the merger that formed the company earlier this year, Bloomberg News reported in February.

Advent formed Xplor through the merger of two portfolio companies, Clearent and Transaction Services Group. Advent invested in Clearent in 2018 and TSG in 2019, according to the buyout firm’s website. Advent said in a February statement announcing the transaction that the combined companies served 82,000 businesses that processed more than $27 billion in payments in 2020.

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