US private equity firm the Carlyle Group is considering bidding 450 million pounds ($859.6 million) for the company that refits Britain's nuclear submarine fleet, the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported. Carlyle has held informal talks over the past few weeks with DML, which owns the Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth and is 51 percent owned by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root.

According to well-placed sources, it said. By buying DML, Carlyle would become involved in Britain's plans to merge its submarine dockyards into a single company dubbed Subco.

Copyright Reuters, 2005