Refco said it was pleased with the number and quality of bids received

The company did not disclose who had made the bids or what was the size of the offers, although the sale is expected to raise more than $850m.

Refco filed for bankruptcy protection last month after its chief executive Phillip Bennett was charged with fraud.

It is alleged he hid $430m (�243m) of debts from Refco shareholders before the firm's flotation in August.

Bidders circle

"We are extremely pleased with the number and quality of the bids received," said Refco's newly-appointed chief executive, William Sexton, in a statement issued late on Friday.

"The bidders expressed interest in Refco's business in the United States, Europe and Asia."

Although Refco did not give details on who had made bids, hedge fund Man Group said in a statement that its brokerage arm Man Financial had made a bid for some of Refco's assets.

Alaron, a Chicago futures and options broker, said last week that it would be making a bid, although it did not give any details of how much it would offer.

The Reuters news agency reported unnamed sources as saying that US private equity firm JC Flowers and US brokerage Interactive Brokers Group had also put bids forward.