NEITHER BNP Paribas nor Kwik-Fit would comment on industry speculation that the French bank is reported to have made a £600 million bid for the fast-fit giant.

Speculation is growing that the bank's private equity arm Paribas Affaires Industrielles is one of the bidders for the fast-fit group.

In the fleet sector BNP Paribas owns Arval PHH.

A spokeswoman for BNP Paribas declined to comment and no one was available to comment from Kwik-Fit at the time of going to press.

Kwik-Fit's current parent company, Ford, bought the fast-fit chain in 1999 for an estimated £1 billion, but last year it announced it was selling the company to concentrate on its core manufacturing business.