Firm 'about to make bid for Energis'

Speculation is mounting private equity firm Apax Partners is on the verge of making a bid for struggling telecoms group Energis.

Former chief executive of Energis Michael Grabiner left the group in August and recently joined Apax.

He is believed to have told Energis's advisers that Apax is interested in making an offer for the business.

The news comes after the debt-laden group saw 75% of its market value wiped out last week after warning that it expected to breach banking covenants. Shares, which were once worth 800p but have fallen 95% since the beginning of 2002, finally closed at 3p on Friday.

It also presented banks with the results of a review which would see it sell its loss-making European operations and axe 400 UK staff.

No details of a possible bid by Apax were available, but it was speculated that any offer would be for less than 5p a share. Energis refused to comment on the reports. A spokesman said: "Even if we had had an approach, we would not be at liberty to discuss it."

Apax was not available for comment, though it is thought it may not be the only suitor for the group.

It was also reported that telecoms group and rival Colt Telecom has offered Energis €65m for its Dutch business, Enertel. It is believed that the group has also received approaches for its German business Ision, which it acquired a year ago for €889m.

Energis's spokesman confirmed that the group had received some interest in the two businesses, but would not comment on who had made the approaches.

Once valued at nearly €23bn, Energis is now worth just over €82m. Energis founder National Grid, which owns around a third of the group, said last week that it should not rely on it for additional financial support.