Terra Firma, the UK private equity group, is poised to make an offer to buy Northgate, a London-quoted vehicle rental business. The purchase will give the company an enterprise value of £1.2bn (€1.8bn), of which £800m is equity.

A source close to Terra Firma told Financial News: "Terra Firma is preparing to make a formal offer for Northgate although nothing has been put on the table so far. At present it is the only interested party, although the company may decide to put itself up for auction."