The UK packaging group Linpac could be sold for as much as £1bn later this year. Current owner Montagu Private Equity is tipped to offload the business, after purchasing it from the Cornish family for £860m in 2003. A sale would be expected to attract high level of interest, with buyout groups Apax and BC Partners named as potential bidders. Linpac is responsible for manufacturing cartons for McDonalds and shipping crates for Harley-Davidson, and employs 9,000 staff around the world.