Big guns in battle to buy NCP

NATIONAL Car Parks, the firm born from the ashes of inner-city bomb sites, is just days away from being sold for £800m by US travel services and estate agency group Cendant.

Venture capitalist Apax is the latest bidder to have emerged. It is thought to have reached the final stage of a contest against Cinven and BC Partners, two other private equity groups. CVC, Carlyle and a consortium including Delancey Estates are also in the running.

The auction, run by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, is expected to conclude by the beginning of next week at the latest, although sources say there is no 'front runner'.

The sale will give Cendant firepower for European expansion. It already owns Galileo, the huge flight-booking IT system, and Century 21, the estate agent chain. It bought NCP for £801m four years ago from co-founders Sir Donald Gosling and Ronald Hobson and has since sold assets including roadside recovery business Green Flag.

Yachting-mad Gosling, with an estimated fortune of £480m, was tipped as a possible figurehead for one of the NCP bids but is not believed to be involved at this stage.