Equity partners at professional services giant Grant Thornton’s UK arm received a £35.2m payout after a large stake in the firm was bought by private equity-backer Cinven.

According to Companies House filings, as seen by City AM, a considerable one-time payout of £35.2m was made to “certain individuals” who are equity partners at the firm.

The accounts also revealed Grant Thornton’s private equity sale resulted in the firm separating its audit arm from the advisory and tax arm.

The deal, first announced in November 2024, saw Grant Thornton become the largest UK professional services business to take external equity investment, in a deal where the value was not publicly disclosed.

In its most recent financial results in May, the firm’s combined revenue growth stood at £787m, a 4 per cent increase on the previous year.

From the ‘one-time’ payout, it is understood that the firm has a pool of approximately 208 equity partners in the UK business; on average, each pocketed around £160,000 to get the transaction over the line, adding an extra 23 per cent to the partners’ yearly take-home pay.

In 2024, before the Cinven deal completed in early 2025, the average profit per partner (PEP) at Grant Thornton stood at £682,000.

In April, Grant Thornton’s Abigail Fisher, chief people officer, told City AM that it wants to be the “best payers in the market”.

Regulator keeping a watchful eye

The professional services sector has generated a large amount of interest and activity from private equity firms over the last few years, with the accountancy industry at the helm of this trend.

Chief executive of the City’s financial watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council, which regulates audit and accountancy firms in the UK, Richard Moriarty, told City AM in March that the FRC is “agnostic on the source of capital but not disinterested”.

Moriarty said that he had invited private equity firms to “come and talk to us” before buying stakes in audit firms to ensure they meet independence and ethics standards, and confirmed that the FRC has turned away some who approached it, as not all investors appreciate the limitations that come with owning an audit firm.

Grant Thornton UK was contacted for comment.