By Milana Vinn

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is exploring a potential sale of Mitratech that could value the provider of legal and compliance software at more than $4 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ontario Teachers' has tapped investment bankers at Lazard to launch a sale process for Mitratech, which is expected to attract interest from private equity firms and rival software makers, the source said, requesting anonymity as the matter is confidential.

The deliberations are at an early stage and a deal is not imminent, the sources said, cautioning that a transaction is not guaranteed. Mitratech's owners are hoping to command a valuation equivalent to about 20 times its 12-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of about $230 million, the sources said.

Mitratech, Ontario Teachers’, and Lazard did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Austin, Texas-based Mitratech provides software that caters to legal and human resources departments at companies, as well as professionals focused on risk and compliance. Its software offerings help companies control expenses, increase productivity, and manage other routine operations like the hiring and onboarding of employees.

Mitratech serves over 20,000 organizations, including large corporations such as McDonald's MCD.N, Chevron CVX.N, and Shell SHEL.L, and operates in more than 160 countries, according to its website.

Toronto-based Ontario Teachers' is one of the largest pension plans in the world, with about $256 billion of assets under management. It acquired an ownership stake in Mitratech in 2021 from private equity firms TA Associates and Hg.

Diligent, a legal and compliance software maker owned by Insight Partners, Blackstone, and Clearlake, is also exploring a sale, Reuters reported in November.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski)

((milana.vinn@thomsonreuters.com))