By Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Symphony Technology Group (STG) and Francisco Partners are among the private equity firms competing to acquire media editing software maker Avid Technology Inc, according to people familiar with the matter.
Avid started exploring options, including a sale, with the help of investment bank Goldman Sachs Group earlier this year, Reuters reported in May.
A deal could be inked as early as this month, the sources said, requesting anonymity as these discussions are confidential. Avid is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Aug. 9.
Burlington, Massachusetts-based Avid’s shares were trading at $22.96 on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of about $1 billion.
Avid, Goldman and Francisco Partners declined to comment. STG has not responded to a request seeking comment.
Palo Alto-based STG is a mid-market private equity firm focused on technology investments. Earlier this year, STG struck a deal to take Momentive Global Inc, the parent company of SurveyMonkey, private in a $1.5 billion deal.
Francisco Partners is a prolific tech investor, which has raised over $45 billion to date. Earlier this week, Francisco Partners teamed up with TPG Inc to acquire New Relic for $6.5 billion.
Founded in 1987, Avid provides editing software and hardware primarily to entertainment industries. Its products, which have been used in the production of blockbuster movies such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water”, include Media Composer, MediaCentral and AirSpeed.
An activist hedge fund and Avid’s largest shareholder, Impactive Capital LP, has representation on the company’s board after cutting a deal with the company in 2019.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
