A pack of private equity investors have left the starting grid in a race to buy TeamSport, the pan-European go-karting operator.

Sky News has learnt that several buyout firms have tabled initial offers for the company, which is expected to fetch more than £150m.

Insiders said on Sunday that EMK Capital and Livingbridge were among the private equity firms which had lodged first-round bids.

TeamSport is owned by Duke Street, one of the UK’s best-known buyout firms and the former owner of Wagamama, and is the largest indoor go-karting operator in the country.

Harris Williams, the investment bank, is overseeing the auction.

TeamSport trades from 35 sites in the UK, three in Germany and two in the Netherlands.

It operates within an activities & attractions market worth £73bn across the three countries.

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Industry sources said that the company’s suitors had been attracted by the potential to grow it to 200 sites across its existing markets alone.

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3i, the London-listed group, also showed an interest in buying TeamSport but is no longer involved, according to a person close to it.

All of the parties contacted by Sky News declined to comment.

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