A Reuters report Friday afternoon that nCino is exploring a potential sale caused its stock to jump nearly 25%.

The Reuters story stated the Wilmington-based banking software company has received takeover interest from private equity firms and its board is “in talks about forming a special committee to review the expressions of interest in a deal and decide on its next steps.”

nCino started as Live Oak Bank’s technology unit, helping the bank operate nationally without branches. It spun out of Live Oak in 2011 as a separate company, eventually going public itself in July 2020 – at a value far higher than its parent company.

Shares of nCino shot up to more than $88 by August 2020, giving it a valuation of more than $7 billion.

Its stock has mainly slid since then, particularly from November 2021, when it traded in the mid-70s, to this week when it stood at $24 before the Reuters report on a possible sale.

nCino shares jumped Friday afternoon to close at $31.69, giving it a valuation of $3.6 billion.

A potential sale of locally-grown nCino echoes the history of another one of Wilmington’s most successful companies. PPD was sold to private equity firms for nearly $4 billion in 2011.

PPD went public again in February 2020 and was then sold to Thermo Fisher in late 2021 for more than $17 billion.