Quadrangle, the private equity owner of the men’s magazine Maxim, has expressed interest in buying the £700 million consumer magazine division of Emap, the owner of FHM.

Quadrangle, which acquired Dennis Publishing’s titles in the United States for $240 million (£119.3 million) this year, is understood to have asked for information on the business from the banks handling the sale.

Indicative bids for Emap’s three businesses are due this month. VSS, another private equity group, has requested information memorandums on all three Emap divisions - consumer magazines, business-to-business and radio, sources said.

Other potential buyers have been looking at the units individually and all, including the consumer magazine division, which had been thought to be the most difficult to sell, have attracted interest.

The most attractive is the business-to-business arm. Interest has come from trade bidders, such as UBM and Guardian Media Group, and private equity groups, including Apax Partners. The division, which is home to titles including Retail Week and Construction News, has been valued at about £1.3 billion.

The radio division, which is estimated to be worth in the region of £400 million, is understood to have attracted Global Radio, the new owner of the former Chrysalis Radio, and GCap Media, which believes that Emap’s Big City Network is geographically compatible with its One Network. Private equity groups, such as 3i, will also be taking a look.

A bid could also come from DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, a unit of Credit Suisse, which is understood to have held talks with other potential bidders about a joint approach for one or more of the Emap units.

Emap, which is being advised by Lazard and Citigroup, said last week that details would be sent out to interested parties “over the next few weeks”. It said that it had been encouraged by the progress of its review.

Emap is Britain’s second-largest consumer magazines publisher by sales, owning magazine titles including Grazia, Heat, Zoo and FHM. Its substantial business-to-business publishing operation includes the UK’s largest exhibitions group by sales, as well as a range of trade publications and websites.

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