Dubai International Capital (DIC) and private-equity firm Bridgepoint plan to bid jointly for healthcare group Euromedic International for about 700 million pounds ($1.4 billion), the London Times said on Sunday.

DIC, an investment agency owned by the ruler of Dubai, and Bridgepoint hired UBS AG to advise on an approach for the European firm, which is owned by private-equity house Warburg Pincus, the newspaper reported, without citing anyone.

A sale of Euromedic, which makes diagnostic equipment, would be one of the biggest private-equity deals this year, at a time when the credit crunch has dented mergers and acquisitions volumes, The Times said.

DIC and Bridgepoint already have a relationship in the healthcare sector after Bridgepoint sold Britain-based Alliance Medical to DIC for 600 million pounds last year.

Bridgepoint reinvested some of the proceeds into Alliance in return for a 17 per cent stake, the Times said. The two partners are looking at a three-way merger involving Euromedic, Alliance Medical and Gambro, which Bridgepoint bought last year, the newspaper said.

Euromedic is a provider of both diagnostic and dialysis equipment to the central and eastern European markets, as well as Britain.

Alliance Medical is a mainly western European business in the diagnostics field, while Gambro, which serves western and northern European markets, specialises in dialysis care services.

Putting the three together would create a pan-European healthcare giant in the manufacture of diagnostics and dialysis technology and services, The Times said.

Jehad Saleh, a spokeswoman for DIC, could not immediately be reached for comment when Reuters called on Sunday.-Reuters