No approach has been made, but Wednesday's profit warning from Kingfisher may increase the venture capitalists' interest.
Post-profit warning, any offer would be likely to come in at between£6 billion and£7 billion. However, the venture capitalists are nervous about the sheer scale of such a deal.
Kingfisher, led by chief executive Gerry Murphy, has been criticised for losing focus at its UK market-leading B&Q chain and for concentrating on cost efficiency rather than sales.
One source with close connections to private equity said: 'There are one or two [private equity firms] looking at it, because where does it go next?'
However, Kingfisher's extensive overseas businesses in countries including France and China - where expansion is being accelerated - would complicate venture capitalists' calculations. They would also need to address associated complexities such as currency risk.
InvestecanalystMark Charnock said Kingfisher had attributes that would appeal to a buyer. He estimated property assets, for instance, to be worth about£2.4 billion.
However, an approach might trigger a pounce by Home Depot, long viewed as a potential buyer of Kingfisher. Charnock said: 'If there's a deal to be done, you'd think it would probably be someone like Home Depot.'
On Wednesday, Kingfisher disclosed that first-quarter retail profit was likely to be down 15 per cent.
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