3i Group, the listed private equity group, has picked bankers to sell the pet food manufacturer behind leading brands including Applaws.

Sky News has learnt that 3i has appointed Harris Williams to handle an auction of MPM four years after it bought a controlling stake in the company.

Based in Manchester, MPM was founded in 2002 and focuses on branded premium pet food products.

Its other brands include Encore and Reveal.

3i invested roughly £125m in MPM in November 2020 alongside the company’s management team.

A sale, which would be likely to take place sometime in 2025, would be likely to rank among 3i’s biggest exits for years.

The FTSE-100 investment group has come under growing scrutiny in recent months as its most valuable holding, the Dutch-based discount retailer, occupies an increasingly dominant place in its portfolio.

Shares in 3i have risen by two-thirds over the last year, and the company now has a market capitalisation of over £32bn.

Its soaring stock price has drawn attention from short-sellers who believe that Action is now overvalued by the firm.

3i and Harris Williams declined to comment.

A collection of bondholders in Thames Water are mobilising to protect their interests amid an intensifying battle to avert the company’s nationalisation.

Sky News has learnt that Class B bondholders were notified on Thursday that they would no longer be part of the same group as the Class A noteholders represented by Jefferies, the investment bank, and law firm Akin Gump.

One bondholder source said a potential clash of interests between the two groups of lenders was the reason for the split.

The Class B bondholders are said to account for hundreds of millions of pounds of Thames Water‘s debt – a small fraction of the company’s estimated £19bn borrowings.

They are now expected to hire financial advisers and lawyers to represent their interests as Thames Water, which has about 15 million customers, teeters on the brink of collapse.

Thames is running out of time to forge a private sector bailout, with a £3bn equity-raise said to have little hope of succeeding while the company’s investment plans remain subject to approval from Ofwat, the industry regulator.

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A final determination on those plans, which include sharp rises in bills, is due to be published by January at the latest.

This week, Ofwat appointed LEK Consulting to monitor Thames Water’s turnaround plans.

The Class A creditors account for roughly £12bn of Thames’s debt, and last week met the regulator to discuss an alternative restructuring that would keep the company in private sector ownership.

A spokesperson for the Thames Water class A creditor group declined to comment.

Britain’s fourth-biggest household energy supplier has poached a senior executive from Monzo, the digital bank, as it explores options that could lead to a change of ownership.

Sky News understands that OVO has recruited James Davies, who has worked for companies including William Hill and Purplebricks, the online estate agent, to become its new chief financial officer.

Mr Davies’s appointment was announced to OVO staff on Thursday, according to an insider.

It marks the latest phase of a leadership shake-up at the company, which has seen former J Sainsbury boss Justin King take over as chairman and former Just Eat chief executive David Buttress become its CEO.

Vincent Casey, Mr Davies’s predecessor, will become an advisor to OVO Group’s board.

OVO and some of its shareholders kicked off a strategic review in the summer to consider options for the company.

It has about four million household customers, positioning it behind the likes of British Gas owner Centrica and Octopus Energy.

In recent months it has diversified its offer to customers by launching an electric vehicle product called Charge Anytime and the acquisition of an on-street vehicle charging business called BonnetA.

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OVO was launched by Stephen Fitzpatrick 15 years ago in a bid to challenge the industry’s dominant players, and has attracted investment from blue-chip backers such as Japan’s Mitsubishi.

Key to OVO’s valuation will be the growth of its technology platform, Kaluza, which was set up to license its software to other energy suppliers, and provides customers with smart electric vehicle charging and heat pumps.

OVO announced this year that AGL Energy, one of Australia’s biggest energy suppliers, had bought a 20% stake in Kaluza at a $500m valuation.

The company declined to comment.