The discussions about a sale will run in parallel with preparations for an initial public offering of M&S's shares on the London Stock Exchange, they added. The company, like its peers, has been handed a significant boost by ministers, who announced plans on Friday to relax planning rules to enable thousands of new homes to be built on brownfield sites across the UK.
Shares in companies such as Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey were trading higher on Friday ahead of the Government's announcement. A shortage of housing stock has long been identified as one of Britain's most intractable social and economic headaches, with ministers desperate to unblock supply-side hurdles.
A sale or flotation will cap a remarkable turnaround for M&S, which was among the housebuilding industry's most prominent victims of the 2008 banking crisis. Earlier this year, the company reported a 76% rise in half-year pre-tax profit to £32m, on the back of strong sales growth.
M&S, which was among a group of housebuilders which were forced into debt restructurings in the aftermath of the financial crisis, now has ambitious plans to spend billions of pounds on constructing thousands of new homes.
Previously part-owned by the state-backed Lloyds Banking Group, which had been a lender to the company, it was taken over by a consortium of investors including Alchemy Partners, Goldman Sachs and TPG.
Taken private in 2006 in a £1.1bn deal, sources said that a sale or float could now value the company at close to that pre-crisis level, crystallising a handsome profit for the current shareholders. Last year, M&S recruited a new management team, led by the former Persimmon chief executive John White as its chairman, and former Barratt Developments executive Clive Fenton as its chief executive.
Announcing its latest results, Mr White said: "The housing market has remained strong during the first half, as has the demand for specialist retirement accommodation.
"The challenges presented by an ageing population means that there remains a pressing need to build more specialist retirement housing, and we have been actively calling on all political parties to focus on this area ahead of the forthcoming general election.
"It is imperative that they look beyond the needs of first time buyers and proactively encourage more and better housing options for our growing elderly population." Mr White also repeated a target of investing £2bn in land during the next four years to deliver 12,000 new homes.
Rothschild, the investment bank, is working with M&S's management on the discussions with potential bidders, while Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are handling the float plans. People close to M&S, which declined to comment, said they anticipated that a public listing remained the likeliest outcome.
uk.news.yahoo.com
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