NEW YORK and CARMEL, Ind. -

About three weeks after a report surfaced in late August saying that KAR Auction Services reportedly had exploratory talks about a possible leveraged buyout, Reuters had more to say on the matter Wednesday.

The news outlet, citing “several people familiar with the matter,” named three private equity firms —  KKR & Co. LP; Apollo Global Management LLC and Clayton Dubilier & Rice — as part of a “handful” that are exploring buying out the Carmel, Ind., company. Reuters said the deal could possibly be worth more than $4 billion.

The news outlet also emphasized that — as of press time — KAR's stock had jumped more than 10 percent in the weeks following Reuters' late-August story on the matter.

And per an Auto Remarketing story earlier this year, KAR's second-quarter revenue was 3 percent stronger year-over-year, coming in at $487.9 million.  Its net income for the quarter soared to nearly $24 million.

What's more, Reuters said it estimates the company will increase full-year EBITDA from $487.2 million last year to more than $500 million this year.

(For more of KAR's latest financial report, see below).

More on This Week's Report

According to Wednesday’s report, KAR brought in the Evercore Partners investment bank for generating offers, the sources said, emphasizing that KAR has only just begun buyout talks.

The sources told Reuters that no transaction is guaranteed.

This news follows what was reported in late August, when it was discovered that a possible leveraged buyout could be in the financial future of KAR Auction Services, according to Reuters.

Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters in August that KAR held exploratory talks with private equity firms about such a potential move.

In a subsequent message to Auto Remarketing in August, a KAR spokesperson maintained, “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on market rumors or speculation.”

KAR became a private company back in 2007 and returned as a publicly traded operation two years later.

Report sources explained that Kelso & Co, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, ValueAct Capital LLC and Parthenon Capital LLC — which collectively own about 78 percent of KAR — have reached out to other buyout firms to discuss a sale, according to the August report from Reuters.

KAR's Most Recent Financial Performance & More

This initial report in August came during the same month KAR revealed its most recent financial performance report. The company kept its performance expectations for the remainder of the year unchanged as its second-quarter adjusted EBITDA decreased 3 percent.

A 3-percent jump in revenue wasn’t enough to produce a gain as KAR indicated its second-quarter adjusted EBITDA settled at $128.1 million, down from the year-ago level of $132.1 million.

“We felt the second quarter would be a challenging quarter. There’s no question that it did prove to be challenging,” KAR chief executive officer Jim Hallett said after the company revealed its recent results.

The company’s second-quarter revenue rose to $487.9 million, up from a year earlier when it was $472.7 million.

When looking at its net income performance, KAR highlighted a whopping 267-percent increase to $23.9 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, as compared with a net loss of $14.3 million or $0.11 per diluted share in the second quarter of last year.