French property development company Eiffage is one of the candidates to acquire Vitalia, France's second-largest private healthcare group, newspaper Les Echos has quoted deputy chief executive Francois Masse as saying.

French property development company Eiffage is one of the candidates to acquire Vitalia, France's second-largest private healthcare group, newspaper Les Echos has quoted deputy chief executive Francois Masse as saying.

US private equity fund Blackstone said last month it was putting Vitalia up for sale for EUR 1.3bn. Investment banks Rothschild and Merrill Lynch have been hired to oversee the sales process. Other possible bidders for the French healthcare business are reportedly Batipart, which also owns a 35% stake in the French nursing home operator Korian, and private buyout firm Colony Capital. Investment fund Blackstone has invested EUR 900mln over the past two years in Vitalia by buying 46 clinics, Les Echos added.