An outsourcing group backed by Lord Hammond, the former chancellor of the exchequer, is among the suitors surrounding Telent, a major provider of digital infrastructure services.
Sky News has learned that Amey, which suffered years of financial difficulties before being bought by two private equity firms in 2022, has made an indicative offer to buy Telent.
Industry sources expect the deal to be worth more than £300 million, with the next round of offers expected later this month.
Amey is part-owned by Buckthorn Partners, of which Lord Hammond is a partner.
The outsourcer was previously owned by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure giant, but fell into financial difficulties before being sold just over two years ago.
It announced earlier this week that it had finalized a refinancing backed by lenders including Apollo Global Management, HSBC and JP Morgan.
Amey would compete with at least one other commercial bidder and one financial bidder for Telent.
Once a subsidiary of Marconi, one of Britain’s most famous industrial names, Telent found itself under the control of private equity firm JC Flowers, in a deal involving Pension Insurance Corporation, the specialist insurer, several years ago.
It provides a range of services to telecommunications and other communications providers.
Amey declined to comment, while Telent could not be reached for comment.