The three firms are set to join a bidding war which is also likely to include Thomson, Ascent Media Group and Macquarie Infrastructure Communications Group, Martin Sorrell's WPP Group and venture capitalists the Carlyle Group.
A management buyout bid led by BBC Broadcast's managing director, Pam Masters, is also being assembled, according to reports.
The BBC will put out a tender for BBC Broadcast next month and analysts expect the corporation to attract bids of between£100m and£150m. The BBC will then give interested parties around a month to respond and a long list of around 12 companies will be drawn up by early April, with a sale possible by July.
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