Exclusive: Informatica seeks advisers to revive sale process - sources

By Nadia Damouni, Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) - Enterprise software maker Informatica Corp is looking to hire new financial advisers that will help it revive a sale process and defend itself from activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, according to people familiar with the matter. An auction for Informatica run by investment banking boutique Qatalyst Partners LP was put on hold early last month after interest received from private equity firms, including a consortium led by Hellman & Friedman LLC, failed to lead to a deal, the people said this week. Informatica, which has a market capitalization of $4.8 billion, is now speaking to other investment banking candidates to advise it on a sale, the people said. The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Informatica and Hellman & Friedman declined to comment, while Qatalyst representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Redwood City, California-based Informatica helps companies connect and store data. It competes in the integration software market with Tibco, a company that went private in December in a $4.3 billion sale to buyout firm Vista Equity Partners. Elliott disclosed an 8 percent stake in Informatica on Jan. 26 and said in a regulatory filing it was speaking to the company's management and board about ways to maximize shareholder value. A person familiar with the matter said at the time that Elliott may call for Informatica to be sold. A number of well-known technology companies have been targeted by activist investors in recent years as the sector undergoes rapid change and older technology companies sit on large amounts of cash. (Reporting by Nadia Damouni, Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Christian Plumb)