A source told the Enquirer the management was very confident about the sale with several interested parties expected to submit first round offers.
Laing O’Rourke has told staff to expect a three-to-six month sale process, which HSBC Investment Bank is co-ordinating.
Several multinational contractors including French construction giant Bouygues and Spain’s Ferrovial are rumoured to have approached Laing O’Rourke about its Australian business late last year.
The business, which reported a post-tax profit of £76m in the 12 months to March 2015 from sales of £1.5bn, could fetch over £350m.
This would help to restore the private contractor’s balance sheet after suffering losses last year of £58m at the UK and European division and experiencing a challenging time this year.