First it was EMI, now it’s Jaguar and Land Rover… UK buy-out group Terra Firma is among the potential bidders for Jaguar and Land Rover, reports the FT on Thursday.The buy-out group, headed by City financier Guy Hands, requested sale documents from Ford Motor and has done some due diligence on a possible bid for the US carmaker’s two UK brands.Terra Firma is seen as having its hands full following its acquisition of EMI, the music group, and it is uncertain whether it will bid, notes the story.

If Hands is interested, he had better move quickly to leap into the scrum, as Ford has signalled its intention to have the sale wrapped up by end of this year or early next and is expected to ask for indicative offers next month. Alongside Terra Firma, Cerberus, TPG, Ripplewood Holdings, Apollo Management and One Equity Partners have also looked at the two brands, as well as Indian manufacturers Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Some of the likely bidders have already lined up financing for the sale, which suggests few obstacles on that front despite tightening credit-market conditions worldwide.

The two carmakers are seen as potential trophy assets, “but any buyer will have to restore loss-making Jaguar to profitability and invest heavily in new emissions-cutting technology at both brands to meet tightening regulations”.

As for Hands, on top of the challenges at EMI, turning round the luxury car makers might be just the thing, given his recent remarks in a speech to the Royal Television Society in Cambridge that: “We look for the worst businesses we can find in the most challenged sectors. We get really happy when things are really, really bad”.