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FRANKFURT, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Private equity investor 3i has offered to buy the shares in Scandlines it does not already own, after an attempt to find a buyer forthe ferry group failed earlier this summer, it said in astatement on Thursday.
3i's bid for the 50 percent stake held by co-owner AllianzCapital Partners (ACP) values Scandlines at more thanthe 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) that buyout group TPG offered for the whole company, a source familiar withthe transaction said.
Separately, 3i and ACP said that they were jointly workingon a refinancing of the existing debt facilities, confirmingwhat several people familiar with the process had told Reutersearlier this week.
Sources had said the private equity owners are set to strikea deal with banks in coming weeks to refinance around 1 billioneuros ($1.3 billion) in loans.
Private equity firms 3i and Allianz Capital Partners (ACP)bought Scandlines for 1.5 billion euros at the peak of thebuyout boom in 2007, backed with 1.28 billion euros of debt,according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.
Another minority investor in the deal was bought out in2010.
