ION, NEC and a host of private equity firms are in the running to buy Warburg Pincus's 45% stake in Swiss fintech house Avaloq, according to Bloomberg.
Warburg Pincus bought an initial 35% stake in Avaloq in March 2017 in a deal valuing the Swiss core banking firm at CHF1 billion.
However, last year it emerged that the firm wants out of Avaloq, which provides digital banking and wealth management technology to the likes of Barclays and HSBC.
According to Bloomberg, citing sources, fintech consolidator ION, Japan's NEC, Apax Partners, Motive Partners and Nordic Capital have been invited to the second round of bidding. Avaloq's owners are seeking a valuation of up to CHF2 billion.
Dublin-based ION has acquired Fidessa, Patsystems, Wall Street Systems, Ffastfill and Rolfe & Nolan in recent years. It is currently working to get a deal for Broadway Technology past the UK's competition watchdog.