(Reuters) Brazilian investment bank Grupo BTG Pactual SA has asked interested parties in its stake in debt collection firm Recovery do Brasil SA to deliver their proposals. Lone Star Funds, Apollo Global Management LP, KKR and others are among firms that may bid for the 82% stake that BTG Pactual shares in Recovery.

According to one source, as many as 23 firms expressed interest in Recovery, Latin America’s largest debt collector, although no more than half a dozen are expected to submit non-binding offers.

Lone Star Funds, Apollo Global Management LP, Elliot Management Corp, Oaktree Capital LLC and KKR & Co LP are among firms specializing in distressed debt investments that may bid for the 82 percent stake that BTG Pactual owns in Recovery, said the sources, who requested anonymity because negotiations are under way.

According to three of the sources, Lone Star seems best placed to buy the stake. A representative for Lone Star declined to comment.

BTG Pactual is seeking about R$1.7b (US$439m) from the sale, should it include the bank’s platform that Recovery uses to price loans, two of the sources said. Without that, the sale could earn R$800m for BTG Pactual, which is selling assets to raise cash in the wake of the arrest of founder André Esteves, the same sources added.

Centerbridge Partners LP and Monarch Alternative Capital LP are also eyeing the asset and may submit a proposal, the second source noted. The results of the first round will define how fast the divestment will occur, the sources said.

An unidentified São Paulo-based distressed debt company, which is teaming up with undisclosed partners to explore the purchase of Recovery’s bad debt portfolio or collection platform, has also entered talks and is considering bidding, said the first source.

The move follows the arrest of Esteves, who founded BTG Pactual, in a corruption probe last month. Latin America’s No. 1 independent investment bank is rushing to sell assets and pools of loans to rivals to shore up cash holding and restore investor confidence.

BTG Pactual declined to comment. Apollo, Elliot, Oaktree, Centerbridge and Monarch did not have an immediate comment.