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According to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, as part of the move successful bids would be funded by Emap, which is talking to a number of banks to see whether they are interested in arranging such loans.

The practice is common when private equity owners sell on companies and would help private equity buyers to compete in the auction of Emap.

The sudden increase in the cost of debt and the difficulty of borrowing money from banks that already have large loans on their books is giving cash-rich trade buyers the edge over private equity bidders.

Earlier this year, vendor financing was attempted by Cadbury Schweppes when it tried to sell its US drinks arm to private equity firms, but Cadbury concluded they were unable to raise the money.

There is a lot of interest in all three parts of Emap, with around 30 companies having requested information on either the consumer magazines, business-to-business or radio divisions.

The latest potential buyer to emerge is Finnish publishing company Sanoma, which is interested in the £700m consumer magazines division, according to The Observer yesterday.

Sanoma publishes more than 300 titles in 13 countries; many under licence ,including foreign versions of Emap titles FHM and Top Sante.