Bridgepoint, the London-listed buyout firm, is closing in on a takeover of Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha FMC), the FTSE-250 specialist consulting firm.

Sky News has learnt that Bridgepoint and Alpha FMC are nearing agreement on a deal worth in the region of £550m.

An agreement worth approximately 500p-a-share is expected to be announced before a Takeover Panel deadline expires on Thursday.

A firm offer from Bridgepoint will come weeks after both it and rival private equity group Cinven approached Alpha FMC about a potential deal.

The specialist financial services consultancy is the latest London-listed company to attract takeover interest from private equity firms.

Alpha FMC competes with the consulting arms of the big four accountancy firms, as well as the likes of Accenture and IBM.

It has more than 900 consultants globally.

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On Wednesday, it had a market valuation of about £440m, with its shares trading at around 391p.

The company’s shares have fallen by about a fifth during the last 12 months.

Alpha FMC and Bridgepoint both declined to comment.

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