Engineering giant Cosworth has been put up for sale, with insiders from the Northampton-based firm hoping to conclude a sale within the next six months.
The move has been confirmed by the company’s owners Gerry Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven, the former IndyCar racing magnates-turned-venture capitalists.
The pair bought the business from Ford eight years ago.
Reports in some section of the media have speculated Rolls Royce could be a favourite to buy the firm, based in St. James Mill Road, Northampton.
A spokesman for the firm this afternoon confirmed Consworth had been put up for sale and revealed there had already been interes. However, they said it was “too early” to say what impact the sale would have on local jobs.
The spokesman said: “We can confirm we are looking for new equity partners.
“It is inappropriate and much too early to be drawn on local jobs. We are at an early stage of the process and we are looking to get a wider expression of interests from a number of parties.”
Asked how long the process could take, he added: “It is difficult to say with these things.
“We would hope from the interest we are seeing already that we would see the process concluded within the next six months.”
Tim Routsis, Cosworth’s chief executive, told The Times: “We have been paused for the last 18 months and the board has decided that we can not wait any longer otherwise we risk losing momentum.”
He said that Cosworth could be attractive to either private equity or trade buyers.
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