Software company GitLab (GTLB.US) is considering a sale, sending shares up more than 10% in premarket trading.

Software developer GitLab (GTLB.US) is considering a sale, with Alphabet (GOOGL.US), its investor, valued at about $8bn.

GitLab shares jumped more than 10% in premarket trading on Wednesday, and were up 11.25% at $56.36 at the time of writing.

GitLab is currently working with investment bankers on a sale process, which has attracted interest from rivals including cloud monitoring company Datadog (DDOG.US), which is valued at about $44bn.

Any deal would still need several weeks to close and is not yet certain. Alphabet owns 22.2% of GitLab’s voting shares through its venture capital arm.

Technology deals are accelerating as artificial intelligence and cloud computing drive companies to expand their product offerings. Alphabet is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for about $23bn, after considering a deal for marketing software company HubSpot (HUBS.US).

Dealogic data shows technology companies accounted for the largest share of global M&A activity in the first half of 2024, up more than 42% year-on-year to $327bn.

GitLab’s platform allows development, operations and security teams to design and manage software using a single tool. It has more than 30mn registered users and more than half of the Fortune 100 use it.

GitLab’s shares have fallen 16% this year, underperforming the S&P 500 software index’s 3% rise, as investors worry about cuts to its customers’ spending. The company reported a 33% year-on-year increase in revenue to $169m in the latest quarter, and its first positive cash flow, but admitted its product pricing was under pressure due to competition with Microsoft after it acquired rival GitHub for $7.5bn in 2018.

Sid Sijbrandij, chief executive and co-founder, controls 45.51% of GitLab’s voting shares through dual-class structure. He said on the company’s earnings call last month that he would receive his second round of chemotherapy for bone marrow cancer, which he had also received last year, and that he was working to fully recover and continue to fulfil his duties.