Greencore, which this week withdrew from a £250 million sterling (€399.8 million) bid for the British group, Perkins Foods, has refused to comment on whether it is involved with the US venture capital group Hicks Muse Tate & Furst in a bid for Rank Hovis McDougall, the food manufacturing arm of the Tomkins group.

Four venture capital and private equity firms have been short-listed in the latest round of the auction - Hicks Muse, CVC Capital, Doughty Hanson and Paribas Affaires Industrielle. Analysts believe the entire Ranks Hovis McDougall business is likely to be sold for more than £1.5 billion sterling and the four-strong short-list is likely to be reduced to two in about a month's time.

While the price tag is well beyond Greencore's financing capacity, analysts believe Green core may be involved with Hicks Muse so that it can subsequently buy the parts of the business in which it has the greatest interest. Greencore is more likely to be interested in Rank's bakery operations, which include the Hovis brand, rather than the group's flour business.

Greencore already has a sizeable and successful bakery business in Britain in Kears and there is a view that the group sees an expansion in this area as part of its strategy to focus on higher-margin and higher-growth consumer foods.

Earlier this week, Greencore pulled out of a bid for Perkins, apparently because the Perkins management was opposed to plans to sell its frozen foods business, with the proceeds being reinvested in the higher-growth chilled foods business.