A consortium of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i Infrastructure and Star Capital are preparing an offer for HSBC's train unit, valued by the company at £2 billion, several people familiar with the matter said.
The group of financial investors is to submit a bid by April 14, two sources close to the situation said, as HSBC tries to attract more interest in its train leasing unit, which owns a third of Britain's rolling stock.
Infrastructure funds from Macquarie and JPMorgan which looked at the unit are not in the running, sources close to them said. Macquarie is advising the consortium of Morgan Stanley, 3i and Star, one of the sources said.
HSBC declined to comment. Morgan Stanley, Star Capital and Macquarie did not immediately respond to a request for comment while 3i and JPMorgan declined to comment.
HSBC is assuming the asset has an enterprise value of £2 billion, based on a staple debt package of £1.7 billion, that includes £200 million for capital expenditure, people familiar with the matter have previously said.