(Bloomberg) -- Investment firm Motive Partners is considering a bid for Allfunds Group Plc as the mutual fund distribution company gauges takeover interest, according to people familiar with the matter.

Motive Partners is working with an adviser as it evaluates a potential bid for the Amsterdam-listed business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The investment firm may team up with a partner, one of the people said.

Considerations are ongoing and Motive could still decide against pursuing a deal, the people said. Motive, founded by financial executive Rob Heyvaert, focuses on financial technology investments in the US and Europe.

Representatives for Motive and Allfunds, which has a market value of about €4.2 billion ($4.6 billion), declined to comment.

Allfunds has been working with advisers to help gauge takeover interest, Bloomberg News reported in November. Prospective suitors include investment firms such as Cinven, CVC Capital Partners and Permira, people familiar with the matter have said. KKR & Co. and Warburg Pincus have also been among potential bidders, the people have said.

Swiss stock-exchange operator SIX Group ruled out making a bid after having explored an acquisition, Reuters reported last month, citing SIX’s chief executive officer.

Allfunds shares jumped 5.4% to €6.87 at 3:07 p.m. in Amsterdam after Bloomberg News reported Motive Partners’ interest. The company went public three years ago at €11.50 a share, and the stock subsequently lost more than half its value through October last year before recovering a bit.

Read more: Allfunds, UK Stocks Touted as Favorite M&A Targets in Survey

A successful suitor would need to win support from private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and French lender BNP Paribas SA, which own significant stakes in Allfunds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Allfunds, founded in 2000 as a Spanish bank, helps asset managers sell their funds to investors while providing services such as data analytics and compliance. Its competitors include Euroclear-owned Euroclear FundsPlace and Deutsche Boerse AG’s Clearstream. Allfunds works with more than 3,000 fund groups with about €1.3 trillion of assets.

Motive Partners, with offices in New York, London and Berlin, makes early-stage, growth and buyout investments in fintech and business services firms, according to its website. Its founding partners include former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive Blythe Masters and former Fiserv Inc. CEO Jeff Yabuki.

--With assistance from Macarena Muñoz.

(Updates to add stock move in seventh paragraph.)

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