Last checked at 
FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) - Private equity groups 3i and Allianz Capital Partners have attractedthree tentative bids for their jointly-owned ferry groupScandlines, a person close to the transaction said.
"The offers handed in by the Friday (April 5) deadline allcame from private equity investors," the person said.
3i and ACP each own 50 percent of the southern Baltic'slargest ferry group, which carries roughly 12 million passengersannually. In October, the investors appointed Goldman Sachs andING to organise the sale, hoping to get up to 1.4 billion euros($1.80 billion) for the group.
Private equity investors including Apollo, AxaPrivate Equity and Nordic Capital have shown interestin Scandlines, the source said, adding it remained unclear ifthey were the among the bidders.
Danish rival DFDS Seaways and Italian peerGrimaldi, shipping industry players that had been expected toconsider a bid for Scandlines, did not participate in theauction, the source said.
3i and ACP, the private equity arm of German insurer Allianz declined to comment, while Apollo, Axa and Nordic werenot immediately available for comment.
3i and ACP bought Scandlines at the peak of the buyouts boomin 2007, paying 1.5 billions euros backed with 1.28 billioneuros of debt, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, alongsideminority investor Deutsche Seereederei which was bought out in2010.
Scandlines had revenue of 611 million euros in 2011 andtotal earnings before interest, tax, depreciation andamortisation of 167 million.
The group will publish 2012 figures next week but hasalready said that freight and passenger volume on its vitalGermany-Denmark services has risen compared to the year earlier.
Scandlines has been buffeted by high oil prices, competitionfrom toll bridges on some routes and faces a threat to onboardretail sales as the harmonisation of taxes between Denmark,Germany and Sweden reduces the incentive for passengers to buywines and spirits.
Separately, an undersea road and rail tunnel between Denmarkand Germany across the Fehmarn Belt is being planned for 2020.If it goes ahead, it would hit passenger numbers on one ofbusiest routes for Scandlines.
