The private equity owner of Pinewood Studios has struck a £700m deal to buy one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders.

Sky News has learnt that Aermont Capital has signed an agreement to acquire Doncaster-based Keepmoat Homes.

The takeover, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, will end the prospects of Keepmoat becoming a public company in the short term.

The company’s owners, Sun Capital and TDR Capital, had been running a dual-track process, under which a sale or flotation were both being considered.

Aermont saw off rival bids from Apollo Global Management, Patron Capital and Guy Hands’ Terra Firma Capital Partners, according to people close to the process.

Moelis, the investment bank, advised Keepmoat on the sale.

Keepmoat has become a national powerhouse in the construction of affordable homes, and describes itself as the UK’s seventh-biggest housebuilder.

It was among the industry players which became indirectly owned by British taxpayers after the 2008 banking crisis, and was bought by TDR and Sun in 2014.

They bought the business from Lloyds Banking Group in 2014 after Britain’s biggest high street lender had been left holding an equity stake after the financial crash.

Lloyds ended up as Britain’s biggest owner of housebuilders, eventually selling companies such as Crest Nicholson, Cala and McCarthy & Stone.

Keepmoat is run by Tim Beale, a former Crest Nicholson executive.

Aermont and Keepmoat declined to comment.

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