The private equity backers of PA Consulting Group, one of the world's oldest management consultancies, are lining up bankers to oversee a prospective sale.
Sky News has learnt that Carlyle, the buyout firm which took a majority stake in PA Consulting in 2015, is interviewing investment banks about a strategic review that will take place in the coming months.
Sources said on Monday that they anticipated that the chosen banks would oversee an auction of PA Consulting, although the timing of a formal process has not yet been set.
Advisers could be formally appointed as soon as next month, they added.
A sale would cap a successful period for Carlyle as an investor in the consulting firm, which employs more than 2800 specialists globally across industries such as defence and security, life sciences and financial services.
PA Consulting does not routinely disclose its client relationships but has publicly spoken about its work on Virgin Hyperloop One, the magnetic levitation transport system being developed with the sponsorship of Sir Richard Branson.
Sources said that Carlyle could opt to pursue a refinancing of the business instead, which would push back a sale to a later date.
Sourced from Sky News - written by Mark Kleinman