The sale of Gandon Holdings is believed imminent and a decision will be made within a fortnight.

It is believed a price tag of £50£60 million (€63.48 million to €76.18 million) is being sought for Gandon, which is a structured finance and treasury operation based in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin.

Companies mooted to be interested include Equity Bank, Anglo-Irish Bank and First Active.

A spokesman for GE Capital, which owns Gandon Holdings, said there had been expressions of interest, "both foreign and domestic, but nothing further", to date.

Market sources said Equity Bank, which also has operations in the IFSC, was a possible bidder, as Gandon's operations could fit well with some of its own. Equity Bank, a subsidiary of the Bank of Scotland, reported a 37 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £4.116 million in 1997, the latest figure available.

Corporate banking activities generated about 70 per cent of its profits and the company has been monitoring acquisition opportunities in the Irish market.

Anglo-Irish Bank recently bought out the interests of Smurfit Paribas and is thought to be interested in acquiring at least some of Gandon's operations, most likely its banking and loans portfolios. "You would expect Anglo-Irish to be looking at it," said one source.

First Active, formerly First National, floated last year and has been mooted as a contender, the theory being that it would like to broaden its business base.

A spokeswoman for First Active denied the company was interested. But industry sources insisted discussions had taken place and said they would not be surprised if First Active was "there somewhere" at the end of the day.

Gandon employs 65 people and its operations include risk management, structured finance and tax arbitrage. The company is said to have made profits of £6.5 million last year.

But several sources said that, ultimately, it might not be of interest to market players, as it is not a large player itself. A management buyout may then follow, although this could mean the company divesting itself of certain operations to meet regulatory requirements.

Gandon was established in 1983 with £33 million backing from Irish and British institutions. Different parts of the business were later sold off, including some operations to Woodchester.

The current Gandon company was sold as part of Woodchester investments, which in turn was bought by GE Capital last year for £591 million. GE Capital has assets of $227 billion (£163 billion) and has almost 30 financial services businesses operating in 21 countries.