New Mountain Capital is another potential bidder, which is exploring merging Grant Thornton’s UK, Ireland, and US operations after the private equity firm took a majority stake in the latter, Financial Times reports.

The process, managed by Rothschild, is expected to value Grant Thornton UK between £1 billion and £1.5bn. Interest is at an early stage and no formal offers have been made.

Grant Thornton has dismissed speculation about excluding its audit practice from any potential deal, emphasising its commitment to remaining a multidisciplinary firm. UK regulations require audit firms to be majority owned by trained accountants, which could lead to ring-fencing the audit practice in any private equity deal.

While saying that it always explores “avenues that will drive growth”, a Grant Thornton spokesperson said the firm “will not be commenting further on this matter”.