Turkey Ferry Auction Attracts Multiple Bids

Private equity firm KKR & Co LP has attracted binding bids from Danish shipping company DFDS A/S and an alliance of PE players Esas Holding AS and Actera Partners LP for its Turkish ferry unit, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

U.N. Ro-Ro Isletmeleri AS, KKR's sole investment in Turkey, has also received interest from local infrastructure investor Global Yatirim Holding AS, though the company had not submitted a bid, the news agency quoted people with knowledge of the sale as saying.

KKR could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Esas-Actera joint bid was "best-placed" to succeed, two sources told Bloomberg, adding that a buyer could be chosen before the end of July.

The unit could fetch a much lower price than what KKR paid back in 2007, as the shipping company's books reflected a debt pile of about $800 million, Bloomberg quoted three sources as saying.

KKR, which is run by Henry Kravis and his cousin George Roberts, bought the shipping company seven years ago for about 910 million euros ($1.24 billion).

($1 = 0.7331 Euro)

(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bangalore; editing by Matthew Lewis)