Absolut vodka

Sweden's center-right government has chosen four bidders in its auction of Vin & Sprit that will be allowed to perform due diligence of the Absolut vodka maker, business daily Dagens Industri reported.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's centre-right government has chosen four bidders in its auction of Vin & Sprit that will be allowed to perform due diligence of the Absolut vodka maker, business daily Dagens Industri reported on Sunday.

The four selected bidders -- Fortune Brands Inc , Pernod Ricard SA , Bacardi and private equity group EQT in cooperation with investment firm Investor AB -- have been widely seen as the front-runners to buy Vin & Sprit.

The newspaper, which did not disclose its sources, said the four bidders would proceed to more closely scrutinize Vin & Sprit in a due diligence process before finalizing their offers.

Vin & Sprit is to be sold as part of Sweden's biggest-ever privatization, which also includes stakes in telecom operator TeliaSonera AB , Nordea Bank AB , mortgage lender SBAB and real estate firm Vasakronan AB.

The government this week sold its entire holding of just under 7 percent of shares in bourse operator OMX AB which is set to be acquired by Borse Dubai as part of a broader agreement with U.S. exchange operator Nasdaq Stock Market Inc

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(Reporting by Niklas Pollard; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)