A decision will be made this week on whether bankrupt health club operator Esporta will be broken up and sold in pieces to bidders in an auction run by investment bank Greenhill.

The Telegraph reports that bids from a number of private equity and trade bidders were expected before the Tuesday 27 May deadline, but that it was unclear whether there would be enough fully funded offers for Grant Thornton, administrator to Esporta holding companies Bell Leisure Investments, to auction the company off as a whole.

Sources told the Telegraph that a twin-track auction could take place, with fully-funded bidders for the whole business handled alongside those looking to bid on pieces of the company.

Before the Tuesday deadline, bids were expected from David Lloyd Leisure (DLL), 3i and Advent International, as well as LVG and MidOcean partners, who hope to merge Esporta with their own chains – LA Fitness and Fitness First.

The Times claims that DLL, owned by the London & Regional property firm, and LVG and MidOcean partners are the most likely buyers.

Bell Leisure Investments has been in administration since August 2007.

It is believed the group could be sold for as little as £180m, a blow to its ownership, the Halabi Family Trust, which paid an estimated £470m for the chain in November 2006 with backing from Société Générale.

The Telegraph has also reported that the sale is being impeded by new vendor due diligence from PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has cut the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation forecasts by millions of pounds.