Bahrain-based fund Investcorp is among the leading candidates to buy a major stake in fashion house Versace, which the company wants to offload ahead of its possible stock market listing, sources said.

Besides Investcorp, the others in the race are Italian state-backed fund Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI), private equity firm CCMP Capital and French private equity firm Ardian.

FSI is keen to secure the Versace stake and would put in an offer valuing the whole company at 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion), sources have said.

The Italian luxury goods group is selling a stake of around 20 per cent ahead of a possible stock market listing in three to five years.-Reuters