LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - HPS Investment Partners is

weighing a sale of British financial advice platform Nucleus

Financial Platforms, four people familiar with the matter told

Reuters.

The private credit group, which was acquired by BlackRock ( BLK )

last year, has held talks with advisers about a possible

sale of the Salisbury, south England-based company, said the

people, who requested anonymity because the matter is

confidential and cautioned that preparations were at an early

stage.

A deal could value Nucleus at about 1.5 billion pounds ($2

billion), one of the sources said, based on how companies in its

sector are valued and Nucleus's recent growth.

Another of the sources said it was too early to discuss

possible valuations and that potential buyers would want to see

whether Nucleus' technology migration efforts had been

successful first.

Spokespeople for HPS and Nucleus declined to comment.

Nucleus runs two retail investment platforms that enable

financial advisers to choose fund products for customers. It

administers more than 100 billion pounds worth of assets on

behalf of 250,000 financial advisers, according to its website.

It has benefited from rising consumer demand for wealth

management in recent years and a wave of consolidation among

Britain's fragmented financial advisory market.

The company's core profit - or earnings before interest,

tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) - rose 48% to 70.7

million pounds in 2023, the most recent year for which figures

are available, according to Companies House filings. Revenue

increased by 37% to 157.2 million pounds.

Private equity and wealth technology players are likely to

show interest in a sale, two of the sources said.

HPS Investment Partners acquired Nucleus in 2022 when it

bought a majority stake from private equity firm Epiris for an

undisclosed amount. Epiris retains a minority stake. Epiris

declined to comment.

Nucleus acquired pensions provider Curtis Banks in 2023, and

investment platform Third Financial in 2024. It also owns a

stake in Canadian financial services group Cannacord Genuity.

($1 = 0.7359 pounds)

(Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Mark Potter)