A Swedish buyout firm has joined the long list of organizations interested in making this deal.
According to information obtained by News, early this week, EQT—which is in the process of purchasing computer game developer Keywords Studios—sent an offer to the advisors of Grant Thornton before the deadline.
The bidders’ list now includes Carlyle, Cinven, CVC Capital Partners, and Permira in addition to Stockholm-based EQT.
It’s also rumored that Nordic Capital has evaluated an offer.
Industry insiders estimate that a purchase might be worth between £1 billion and £2 billion for Grant Thornton’s UK division.
The fact that CVC also controls Teneo, a professional services company that provides political consulting, financial restructuring, including company administrations and liquidations, makes the firm’s participation in the auction particularly noteworthy.
The latter portion of the business was purchased in 2021 from the massive professional services company Deloitte, in part due to the increasing problem of conflicts between the audit and consulting divisions of huge accountants.
Since 2019, CVC has governed Teneo, and it is expected that the company will look to exit in the coming years.
