Ten of the 30 largest U.S. accounting firms are in negotiations to be purchased by private equity firms, The Financial Times reported, with at least four groups holding deal talks following this year’s sales of Grant Thornton and Baker Tilly.

In May, Grant Thornton announced that New Mountain Capital would make a significant growth investment in the firm. In February, Baker Tilly announced  an investment from private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Valeas Capital Partners. 

One top-30 firm, Atlanta-based Aprio, was planning a deal to sell a majority stake to the private equity firm Charlesbank Capital, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times. New York’s PKF O’Connor Davies and Alabama's Carr, Riggs & Ingram had engaged bankers to run sale processes, they said.

California-based Armanino, the country’s 19th largest accounting firm and the former auditor of collapsed crypto exchange FTX’s U.S. operations, was in talks with a private capital provider about selling a minority stake, the people said.

“Partners are waking up to the fact that there is leverage to be had by tapping into the capital markets,” said Alan Whitman, a former chief executive of Baker Tilly, in an interview with the Financial Times. “The capital needs of the firms have increased exponentially in recent years, in terms of people costs and investments in offshoring and technology.”

Regulators are concerned about whether private equity ownership could affect the quality of audit work. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Accountant Paul Munter said last month that “firm leaders need to be sensitive to the message such arrangements could send and stand ready to correct any such misimpressions,” the Financial times reported.

“Private capital is penetrating the accounting profession in a way that we never thought possible,” said Allan Koltin, a deal adviser to accounting firms, in an interview. “This is getting into the bloodline of firms of all sizes.”