Quorn fields takeover interest from range of parties -sources

By Martinne Geller and Freya Berry

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The owner of Quorn, a line of meat-free packaged foods, has received takeover interest from a range of parties including Monde Nissin from the Philippines and Wilmar International from Singapore, according to sources familiar with the matter.

An auction for Quorn, which is owned by Exponent Private Equity, kicked off earlier this month with detailed information being sent to a range of potential bidders, said the sources, who declined to be identified.

First (Other OTC: FSTC - news) -round bids are due in mid-October, but a pre-emptive deal -- in the range of about 500 million pounds ($759.10 million) -- could be announced as soon as this week, said one of the sources.

French yogurt company Danone (Swiss: 487663.SW - news) and Canadian french fry company McCain are also looking at the business, said another of the sources, as well as Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's Kerry Group (Other OTC: KRYAF - news) .

Exponent (NasdaqGS: EXPO - news) , based in London, declined to comment. Monde Nissin and Wilmar did not respond to requests for comment. Danone and McCain were not immediately available.

(Additional reporting by Freya Berry in London, Denny Thomas in Hong Kong and Rujun Shen in Singapore; editing by Adrian Croft)