Peel Ports, the UK's second largest port company which owns the Mersey Docks and the Manchester ship canal, may be partially up for sale. Investment bank Rothschild has been hired to find potential bidders for a 49% stake in the company. Interested parties are tipped to include the private equity group 3i, Babcock and Brown, Macquarie Bank, Industry Funds Management and the Canadian Pension Plan. Peel Ports is owned by millionaire John Whittaker, and has an approximate value of £1.5bn. In 2005, the company generated an estimated £400m in revenue.