Private equity firm Investindustrial Holdings SpA, is looking to sell iconic Italian motorcycle maker Ducati, and expects €1 billion ($1.32 billion) or three times its initial investment, the Financial Times yesterday reported.

Ducati is now a perfect company but the further growth it requires needs the support of a world-class industrial partner,'' Andrea Bonomi, Investindustrial's chairman, told the Financial Times. ''This year, we will work towards that partner.''

Investindustrial, one of the biggest private equity investors in southern Europe, is looking to reap three times its initial investment by selling or listing the maker of Diavel, Hypermotard, Streetfighter and Superbike brand of motorcycles.

Investindustrial had last year hired Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to sound out a Hong Kong public listing for Ducati, but a sale to a rival or to a large auto group is now seen as the more likely way to internationalise the brand further, the paper said.

German car makers Volkswagen AG (VW) and, BMW AG and India's Mahindra & Mahindra could be possible buyers, said the report.

BMW and Mahindra & Mahindra have their own range of motorcycles, while Ferdinand Piëch, VW's chairman, who drives Ducati bikes, had said a few years ago that he regretted not having acquired Ducati when its valuation was low.

Bologna, Italy-based Ducati was founded in 1926 by three brothers, Adriano, Marcello and Bruno Ducati, and started making radio components.

By 1935, the Ducati family had built their first factory and made the first Ducati 60 cc motorcycle in 1950. The Ducati family lost ownership of the company in the same year, and since then Ducati Motorcycles had changed owners multiple times.

In 2005, Investindustrial Holdings, private equity firm BS Investimenti and Hospital of Ontario Pension Plan acquired Ducati from Texas Pacific Group.

Ducati currently produces motorcycles in six models, such as Superbike, Diavel, Hypermotrad, Monster, Multistrada, and Street Fighter and sells over 40,000 across the globe, with the US being its main market.

It also manufactures custom racing motorcycles for official teams, as well as for private race teams, and professional riders.