DocuSign’s stock performed significantly higher last week. Rumors were circulating that two private equity investors were interested in acquiring the specialist for electronic signatures. The Wall Street Journal had already reported before Christmas that the company was considering a sale. The speculations are now becoming more concrete.

Market leader in electronic signatures Since its founding in 2003, DocuSign has set out to accelerate business processes and make life easier for companies and people around the world. The company has been a pioneer in the development of electronic signatures.

Today, DocuSign supports companies in linking and automating the way contracts are prepared, signed, implemented, and managed. The company is a market leader in the field of electronic signatures. The company estimates the total addressable market at around $50 billion.

Automation saves enormous costs and ensures rapid adoption The DocuSign platform offers over 350 pre-configured integrations with popular business apps. In addition, the API allows for embedding and connecting DocuSign with the customer’s website, mobile applications, and custom workflows.

Today, DocuSign has hundreds of millions of users in over 180 countries, who use it to create, upload, and send documents that can be electronically signed by multiple parties. In total, the company has 1.47 million customers and over 1 billion users.

Global player continues to grow In the meantime, the company has become a true global player with 7,336 employees at 15 locations worldwide. In the last quarter, revenues increased by 8.5% to $700.42 million. 97% of total revenues were from predictable software subscriptions. Meanwhile, the tech company was able to significantly improve its profitability. After a loss of $29.8 million in the same quarter of the previous year, there was now a positive net income of $38.8 million on the books.

Financial investors eyeing DocuSign According to media reports, private equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman are now competing for the acquisition of technology company DocuSign. According to people familiar with the matter, the two investors are among the final bidders. Although the companies have not yet come together, it is possible that they may join forces for an offer. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.

Blackstone had discussions about a possible deal but is no longer in the running, according to the Reuters report.

Bank of America sees a possible price of $95 per share On Friday, DocuSign’s stock closed at $63.55. According to analysts at Bank of America, the takeover price could be up to $95 per share. Last year, the average purchase multiple for software companies acquired by private equity firms was 7.3x the last twelve months‘ revenue.

Using this multiple for DocuSign, the total purchase price would be $19.8 billion, or around $95 per share. However, analyst Brad Sills of Bank of America sees the multiple as too high due to decreasing growth dynamics. „If a potential deal is reached, we believe it will likely be lower.“ Currently, the analyst has a price target of $68 for the stock, which is „only“ 7% above the last closing price.