ANZ (ASX: ANZ) has confirmed it is in discussions with global private equity firm KKR (NYSE: KKR) about a possible acquisition of small business accounting software company MYOB.

In a 13 July ASX announcement, the bank said agreement had not been reached and there was no certainty a deal would proceed.

ANZ noted that for a transaction to proceed it would need regulatory approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the New Zealand Overseas Investments Office.

KKR took then ASX-listed MYOB private in 2019 in a $2 billion deal. That deal took MYOB into its third period of private equity ownership which followed two spells as an ASX-listed company.

MYOB’s prior private equity owners were a partnership of Archer Capital and US-based fund-of-funds manager HarbourVest Partners followed by Bain Capital.

Archer and HarbourVest took MYOB private after its first spell on the ASX for about $451 million in early 2009. Bain bought the business from the partnership in mid-2011. The value of that deal was not disclosed but is believed to have been around $1.2 billion.

MYOB was re-listed in 2015 after a $3.65-a-share IPO which gave the company a market capitalisation of $2.13 billion and an enterprise value of $2.56 billion.