The paper said in a front page story that Candover directors are understood to have reached an agreement with ABB to conduct detailed executive talks, however, several other buyers including US oil service group Copper Cameron are also though to be interested in making a bid.
The Candover offer comes ahead of ABB's second quarter profit results.
The Financial Times report says that a successful conclusion to the talks would be a good result for ABB given that it was brought to the brink of bankruptcy last year by asbestos liabilities and a deteriorating trading performance.
ABB is currently carrying about $US4.6 billion in net debt with about US$1.6 billion due to be repaid or refinanced in the forth quarter of this year.
