British architect Lord Norman Foster stands in line to receive a multi-million pound windfall from the sale of a stake in his architectural practice with a number of private equity firms showing interest in the business.

Foster, who has an 80% holding in Foster and Partners, has hired a bank to explore possible options, which could result in the sale of his entire holding. Based on the company's maximum valuation of £500m (€762m), that could be would be worth as much as £400m for one of the UK's leading architects.