A shortlist of three venture capital groups keen to buy BWG, the wholesale division of Pernod Ricard, should be finalised within the next couple of weeks. Reports from Ireland suggest Pernod Ricard will draw up its shortlist from the six serious bidders identified in the first round of the auction. The venture capital groups in the running are all British and are said to be Hg, Legal & General Ventures, Candover, Alchemy, Royal Bank Private Equity and Electra Partners. It is unclear, at this stage, whether BWG's management team, led by Leo Crawford, are linked with any of the bidders. However, Pernod Ricard insists that BWG will be sold as a single entity and is confident of completing the disposal in the early autumn. Whoever clinches the deal is expected to break up BWG. {{NEWS }}