Retail investment platform PrimaryBid is in talks with several financial institutions and investors about a possible takeover.
Sky News has learnt that PrimaryBid, which counts London Stock Exchange Group and the SoftBank Vision Fund among its investors, is working with advisers to field interest in a takeover. Other investors include ABN Amro and Fidelity.
City sources said the process was being conducted on an accelerated basis and that if concluded, it would be at a steep discount to the $500m valuation which it attracted three years ago.
The firm, which counts PensionBee and Lloyds Banking Group among its customers, has been hit by a severe slowdown in equity capital markets activity, prompting it to launch a strategic review and hire US-based market infrastructure specialist Rosenblatt Securities to evaluate its strategic options.
Financial News, the trade publication, reported on Friday that LSEG had written down the value of its 7.2% stake in PrimaryBid by 87%, implying that the business now had a valuation of just £56m.
Founded in 2016, PrimaryBid has raised roughly $250m during its nine years in existence.