Consortium targets Biffa deal - report

LONDON (Reuters) - A consortium including Chinook Urban Mining (CKE.TO) and JP Morgan (JPM.N) has made a 520 million pound cash offer for British waste manager Biffa BFFGP.UL, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

The waste management group, which is under pressure to pay back loans to local British councils, has been trying to sell certain divisions to reduce its 1-billion pound debt.

Its owners, Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), received a bid from a consortium of Chinook, the London-based recycling specialist, private equity investor Clearbrook Capital and U.S. bank JP Morgan.

"This is a serious offer and the only firm bid on the table, but some of the bankers appear to be blocking it and it is difficult to get a consensus among so many banks," a source close to the negotiations is quoted as saying.

The offer was submitted last week to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) PWC.UL, the advisers to the 76 banks and financial institutions that lent funds to Biffa's current owners, according to the Guardian.

The bid was presented by PwC last Friday at a meeting with Biffa's senior management and the lenders to discuss its debt refinancing strategy, the Guardian said.

(Reporting by Stephen Mangan; Editing by Michael Perry)