(Bloomberg) -- Insight Partners is exploring options for Dotmatics including a sale of the R&D software maker that could fetch $5 billion or more, according to people familiar with the matter.

The technology-focused private equity and venture capital firm has hired advisers to gauge takeover interest in the company, which sells software used in the life sciences industry, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.

Dotmatics is expected to draw interest from private equity firms and other companies that make industrial software or sell services to the life sciences industry, the people said. The deliberations may not lead to a transaction, they added.

A spokesperson for for Insight Partners declined to comment. A representative for Boston-based Dotmatics didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Insight Partners first invested in Dotmatics in 2017, according to its website. A fund backed by Insight Partners agreed in 2021 to buy the company in a deal valued at as much as £500 million ($629 million), Bloomberg News reported at the time.

Previously based in the UK, Dotmatics was founded in 2005 by Merck & Co. scientists Stephen Gallagher and Alastair Hill. Currently, more than 2 million scientists and 10,000 customers in 125 countries use Dotmatics software, according to the company. The software helps scientists when they’re doing research by helping to digitize lab data, enhance collaboration and analyze findings, among other capabilities.

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