Priory sale saga continues Round one of bidding has concluded in the race to pick up RBS-owned Priory Group, with Cinven reported to be the front run

A spokesperson for the private equity giant, which also owns mental health firm Partnerships in Care (PiC), refused to comment on the deal. However, if Cinven does emerge victorious, then it is widely tipped to merge Priory with PiC, creating a two-and-a-half-thousand bed mental health conglomerate in the process. But a merger raises the prospect…