Energis, the beleaguered UK telecoms firm, is close to striking a rescue deal with its bankers and gaining a new, high-profile chairman.

On Monday, Energis said talks with its bank and bondholders were at an advanced stage and could lead to the sale of its UK business to a company set up for that purpose.

Separately, reports suggest that Archie Norman, who is the ex-chairman of supermarket chain Asda and Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, is set to take on the job of heading Energis.

Mr Norman could not be reached for comment.

The banks are believed to be willing to inject �150m into the loss-making telecoms firm to see it through to profitability.

Taking control

Energis' future has been the subject of intense negotiations - and speculation - over recent weeks as its creditors examined a takeover bid put together by two venture capital groups, Apax and Carlyle.

That rescue now appears to have been rejected in favour of one that would give the creditors control of the company.

A consortium of 16 banks plan to take a controlling stake in a revamped Energis in return for the �150m bailout, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Energis' UK operations would be siphoned off into a new company, to be called Chelys and chaired by Mr Norman, who won respect from the City of London when he sold Asda to US giant Wal-Mart.

Energis owes its bankers about �700m, and its bondholders another �550m.

The banks reportedly include Barclays, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan.

Shareholders left out?

The bondholders will also take stake in the new company, the Independent on Sunday reported.

However, Energis shareholders may find themselves left hoping for the proceeds of overseas operations which are being closed down or sold off.

Overseas operations - in Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland - would be left out of the restructured firm.

The takeover bid by the venture capital firms was led by Apax, who were advised by former Energis chief executive Mike Grabiner.

Share price slide

Energis was created when National Grid spun off its telecoms operations into a separate company, though it retained a 37% stake in Energis.

Earlier this year, National Grid, wrote off �755m of telecoms investments, about half of which was to cover the falling value of its stake in Energis.

Energis had a stock market value of �2bn two years ago but, as investors' enthusiasm for telecoms stocks gave way to fears about the sector's debts, its shares plummeted.

The firm had a market value of about �20m when the market closed on Friday.

Mr Norman became a shadow environment minister under ex-Conservative Party leader William Hague before being moved to the back benches.

He was an advisor to Permira, which was at one point interested in taking part in the venture capital groups' takeover proposal.