Apax leads £500m battle to revive name of accountancy firm Smith & Williamson

Apax Partners is leading the race to buy the accountancy arm of Evelyn Partners - a move expected to revive one of the sector's best-known names.

Sky News has learnt that Apax and Bridgepoint are the two remaining contenders to buy the business, with a deal expected to be signed as soon as this weekend.

City sources said that Apax had offered the higher price, although they cautioned that the situation could yet change.

The victor in the auction is expected to pay more than £500m for the business, and revive the Smith & Williamson name after the deal completes.

Buyout firms including Bain Capital and Swiss-based Partners Group were among the buyout firms eliminated earlier in the process.

The firm being sold by Evelyn Partners is the seventh-largest UK accountancy practice by fee income, with the auction coming amid a deluge of corporate activity in the professional services sector.

Earlier this week, Sky News revealed that Cinven was the frontrunner to buy a majority stake in Grant Thornton UK, with the deal confirmed on Thursday.

The sale of Evelyn's accountancy business would leave it as a pureplay wealth management company owned by Permira and Warburg Pincus, two other prominent private equity firms.

Evelyn recently published a third-quarter trading update showing that assets under management and advice had risen to a record £62.7bn.

The company is now run by Paul Geddes, a former boss of Direct Line Group.

Market sources expect the remainder of Evelyn to change hands in the next 12 months.

Apax declined to comment on Friday.