The owners of Kantar Group, the global market research firm, are to explore a £5bn-plus sale of the division which supplies closely watched data on the performance of Britain’s supermarkets.

Sky News has learnt that Kantar’s Worldpanel arm could be put up for sale later this year.

The move, which has yet to be formally approved by Bain Capital and WPP Group, Kantar’s owners, would leave the company as a pureplay brand strategy consultancy.

Kantar Worldpanel is in the process of combining with Numerator, a US-based business which was acquired in 2021.

Collectively, the enlarged business provides data representing five billion consumers globally.

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Banking sources said on Sunday night that the Worldpanel business could fetch well over £5bn in a sale.

That would leave the Kantar brand strategy business to be listed or sold separately, according to the sources.

Alternatively, Bain Capital and WPP could elect to float the entire group instead of pursuing the Worldpanel sale.

Bankers have yet to be appointed to handle any auction.

A sale at a bumper valuation would deliver a rare piece of good news to WPP, which has seen its shares hammered amid doubts about its strategy in a marketing services industry increasingly susceptible to disruption by advances in artificial intelligence.

Kantar and Bain Capital have been contacted for comment.

A two-way shootout for WH Smith’s high street chain will take place this spring as the 233-year-old retailer’s brand prepares to disappear from towns across Britain.

Sky News has learnt that Alteri and Modella Capital, both of which specialise in buying troubled retailers, are now the only two remaining parties in talks with WH Smith and its advisers about a potential deal.

Doug Putman, the owner of HMV and widely tipped as a logical bidder for the chain, is no longer in talks with bankers at Greenhill, although he could yet try to pitch a new offer before the auction concludes, according to insiders.

Alteri, which owns Bensons for Beds and had a disastrous spell in control of Missguided, the fashion brand, and Modella, which recently bought The Original Factory Shop and also owns Hobbycraft, would be expected to conduct major surgery on WH Smith’s high street business if they took control.

A definitive deal could be announced at the time of WH Smith’s interim results in April.

Sky News revealed in January that WH Smith’s London-listed holding company was looking to offload the high street business, which comprises more than 500 shops.

If completed, the deal would leave WH Smith as a company focused on its more lucrative travel retail operation in airports, railway stations and hospitals, which comprises about 1,200 stores globally.

A sale of its high street arm would mark a watershed moment for the UK high street, which first saw the appearance of the name in 1792.

The business, which specialises in selling items such as greeting cards and stationery, employs about 5,000 people across the country.

A WH Smith spokesman declined to comment.