Iress confirmed it received a “confidential, unsolicited, non-binding and indicative proposal” from EQT on 4 July.

EQT proposed buying all of Iress’ shares via a recommended scheme of arrangement at a price range of between A$15.30 and A$15.50 cash per share.

The proposal followed a previous bid on 18 June for A$14.80 per share. The Iress board rejected the offer as it was “not considered to be in the best interests of shareholders”.

Discussions are continuing with the companies and Iress has provided EQT with further details to help it revise its offer higher still.

Iress said it has taken financial and legal advice, which has resulted in it giving EQT access to “limited non-public information”.

The aim is for EQT to develop a proposal suitable for recommendation to shareholders.

EQT has entered into “a confidentiality and standstill agreement”.

Iress stressed there is no certainty a deal will be reached. The firm’s board has recommended that shareholders take no action in relation to the indicative proposal by EQT.

It said it will keep the market informed of developments.

Responding to the announcement, Financial Technology Research Centre director Ian McKenna said: “I’m not surprised by the fact there has been a bid for Iress, indeed I have been anticipating something happening around it for some time. It was one of the first advice tech firms to involve itself into a genuine global business and advice tech is very much in vogue with private equity at the moment, for good reason.

“Unlike other areas where it could be argued we may be at the top of the market, we are on the cusp of an advice revolution where financial advice will no longer be a luxury reserved for the rich, but become a utility accessible to everyone that needs it.

“This transformation is only possible through the use of advice technology. Iress is a scale business which has a proven ability to supply advice technology in multiple jurisdictions. It has yet to enter this really lucrative US market and there are plenty of further opportunities in Asia. Even if the current bidder does not increase its offer I would expect other interested parties to emerge.”

In a further market update today, Iress said it plans to “accelerate growth and returns” for shareholders.

In June, Iress stated that it was considering selling its Mortgage Sales & Origination (MSO) business.