June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP, manager of the world's biggest leveraged buyout fund, is reviewing four bids for Groupe Vitalia, the French hospital chain it's selling for about 1.4 billion euros ($2.2 billion), four people with knowledge of the matter said.

Private equity firms CVC Capital Partners Ltd. and LBO France as well as French real estate company Batipart SA are among the bidders, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. An offer from Milan-based hospital group Gruppo Ospedaliero San Donato is also being evaluated, one person said.

While the health-care industry is growing as the population ages, ``the deal sounds expensive'' at more than two times revenue, said Philippe Ezeghian, a Paris-based analyst at Fortis. Since 2001, private hospitals and nursing homes have attracted real-estate investors such as Blackstone and Fonciere des Regions, Ezeghian said.

Blackstone has invested 900 million euros in Vitalia since teaming up with French oncologist Christian le Dorze in April 2006 to build up a network of 45 private clinics, le Dorze told French newspaper Le Telegramme on April 22. The Paris-based company, with annual revenue of 650 million euros, plans to buy a further 25 hospitals, Le Dorze said.

Vitalia competes with Paris-based Generale de Sante SA, which has more than 200 clinics in France and Italy.

A deal would come less than a month after 3i Group Plc, Europe's largest publicly traded private equity firm, scrapped its sale of Nordic health-care company Ambea after offers fell short of its asking price. London-based 3i Group had sought about 900 million euros for Ambea, people with knowledge of the sale said at the time.

Rothschild and Merrill Lynch & Co. are managing the Vitalia sale. Second-round bids are due the week of July 7, one of the people said. Officials at Blackstone and bidders at the private equity firms declined to comment. A spokesman for Batipart wasn't immediately available to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris achassany@bloomberg.netEdward Evans in London eevans3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 26, 2008 04:56 EDT