A trio of buyout firms have been shortlisted to buy a stake in the UK operations of Grant Thornton, one of Britain’s six biggest accountancy firms.

Sky News has learnt that Cinven, EQT and New Mountain Capital – the backer of Grant Thornton’s US business – have made the cut in a process that could value the UK firm at more than £1.5bn.

Other contenders, including Permira and Carlyle are said to no longer be in contention, although insiders cautioned that the list was subject to change.

Grant Thornton has around 200 UK equity partners, who will have a say on the deal.

The firm has improved its financial performance following a turbulent period for its leadership, with a £1.3m fine being imposed for “serious failings” in 2022 in relation to its audit of Sports Direct, the sportswear empire founded by Mike Ashley and now known as Frasers Group.

It was also handed a £2.3m penalty the year before for demonstrating a “serious lack of competence” in relation to its work on Patisserie Holdings, the owner of the collapsed cafe chain Patisserie Valerie.

Since then, Grant Thornton has slashed the number of so-called public interest entity (PIEs) audit clients, a category which includes banks, insurers and other companies deemed to be of particular importance.

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A spokesperson for Grant Thornton UK LLP said: “As all businesses do, we continually evaluate the external business and economic landscape and explore various avenues that will drive growth for our firm.

“This enables us to make informed decisions about what’s best for our people, our clients, and our firm.

“No decisions have been made and, whilst we are considering our options, we will not be commenting further.”

Cinven, EQT and Permira declined to comment.

Scrutiny of Thames Water, the crisis-hit utility, will intensify this week when the industry regulator appoints LEK Consulting as an independent monitor of the company.

Scrutiny of Thames Water, the crisis-hit utility, will intensify this week when the industry regulator appoints LEK Consulting as an independent monitor of the company.

Sky News has learnt that Ofwat is expected to announce LEK’s appointment within days.

The move was triggered in August when Thames Water lost two investment grade credit ratings, which compromised one of the conditions it must fulfil in order to maintain its operating licence.

The ratings downgrades were triggered by growing expectations that the company will need to be nationalised in the coming months amid a battle to raise new capital from private investors.

Last week, Sky News revealed that lenders holding £12bn of Thames Water’s debt had held face-to-face talks with Ofwat to pitch a rescue deal that they believe would avert its nationalisation.

The syndicate is racing to find a solution that would allow a restructuring that would incorporate a massive debt-for-equity swap and see fresh equity injected into the crisis-hit utility, which serves about 15m customers in London and the south-east.

A deal needs to be agreed by the middle of November because Ofwat is due to sign off its final regulatory determination for the company’s business plan at a board meeting in the second half of the month.

Creditors argue that Ofwat needs to demonstrate flexibility in its consideration of Thames Water’s business plan in order to make the company investible.

Further details of the creditor group’s proposals are unclear, although flexibility in relation to customer bill increases will inevitably be a component.

Thames Water is also facing a litany of regulatory fines over its poor customer service performance and dire record on sewage and water leaks.

Plans for an emergency liquidity facility of more than £1bn are also being drawn up, although they are yet to be finalised.

That finalising would buy Thames Water several months more to finalise a rescue plan.

In August, David Black, Ofwat’s chief executive, said: “We are clear that Thames Water needs to remedy its licence breach, turnaround its operational performance and secure backing from investors to restore its loss of investment grade credit rating.

“These enforceable commitments will include our putting an independent Monitor into the business, to report back to us on what is happening to drive meaningful change in performance, and to ensure appropriate expertise is added to their board.

“We will continue to monitor progress very closely and will not hesitate to take any further action if necessary.”

Bankers at Rothschild have been trying to drum up investment in new Thames Water stock in recent months, but with little success amid a lack of visibility about the company’s survival prospects.

Sky News reported last month that Carlyle, the American investment giant, has become the latest global fund to weigh an investment in Thames Water.

Its future remains so shrouded in uncertainty because the industry watchdog, Ofwat, has rejected the company’s initial spending plans for the next five-year regulatory period.

If new investment into Thames Water is not forthcoming before it runs out of cash, the government will have little choice but to sanction the temporary nationalisation of the company.

This would be done through a Special Administration Regime (SAR), a procedure tested only once before when Bulb Energy collapsed in 2021.

As part of its contingency planning for implementing a far-reaching restructuring, Thames Water has booked court dates in November to progress a rescue deal.

Shareholders have long since written off their investment in the company and will not play a role in any rescue deal.

Ofwat and Thames Water declined to comment.

The CBI, the struggling business lobbying group, is in talks to sub-let parts of its vast London headquarters as it continues to seek cost-cutting opportunities in the wake of last year’s near-collapse.

Sky News has learnt that the CBI has approached some of its trade association members to gauge their appetite to lease parts of the 25,000sq ft Cannon Place office it moved into in 2014.

Sources said the discussions were at an early stage, and the outcome was uncertain.

Since its brush with insolvency last year, triggered by an exodus of corporate members which were horrified by a sexual misconduct scandal, the CBI has closed most of its overseas offices and made a significant chunk of its workforce redundant.

The self-styled “voice of business”, which was initially frozen out of engagement with government ministers and officials, has begun to regain its influence in recent months.

Sky News revealed this month that members including KPMG and NatWest Group had resumed their membership of the organisation.

However, its finances remain in a fragile state, with the CBI reliant on a multimillion pound overdraft from a number of high street banks.

Its 15-year lease on Cannon Place is not thought to include a break clause, with one source saying the CBI was paying several million pounds a year in rent.

One insider said a relocation from its current HQ at the end of the lease was likely.

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In a statement, the CBI said: “Office real estate in the City can command a certain price level for its great location close to lots of big-name FTSE companies and the headquarters of many well-known market leading brands, many of which are in CBI membership.

“Like many businesses, at the CBI we offer hybrid working to our hardworking staff across the UK, which means our Cannon Place office has some extra capacity.

“Conscious of doing everything we can to reduce our overheads we are exploring a range of options that could see us make better use of the space to offset our costs such as making space available to some of the many fantastic firms and trade associations we are proud to represent who do not have access to a central London base for their own staff.

“We note that other large business representative bodies such as Ibec in Ireland have very successfully offered their trade association members the opportunity to work under one roof.

“As any responsible business owner would, when leases come up for renewal on any of our office spaces we will consider carefully what makes best sense for our organisation, how we work and how we best meet with and convene our members.”

Later this month, the CBI will hold its annual meeting, which will provide members with further insight into the current state of its finances.

It briefly entertained talks last year about a merger with Make UK, the manufacturers’ body, but these were abandoned.