Australian private firm hires Macquarie for sale that could fetch $1.5 billion

SYDNEY (Reuters) - BGC, one of Australia's biggest privately owned companies, said on Tuesday it has hired Macquarie Group to find a buyer for the business, in a possible deal that local media said would be worth about A$2 billion ($1.5 billion).

BGC, or Buckeridge Group of Companies, was entirely owned by its founder, Leonard Buckeridge, since he started it in 1960 and came to dominate residential and commercial construction in Western Australia state.

After Buckeridge died in 2014, the company went to his family. Local media reported earlier this year that the family wanted to sell the business to resolve a dispute, but they have now hired an investment bank to help with that process.

"Macquarie Capital has been appointed as corporate advisor and will provide strategic advice on the planning of the group of companies' ... strategy across the sales process and future negotiations," a BGC spokeswoman said in an email.

She did not respond to a question about media reports that the sale was expected to fetch about A$2 billion.

BGC's business units span residential and commercial construction, building products, contract mining, engineering and property management, and generate more than A$2.5 billion in revenue, the company says.

($1 = 1.3548 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Paulina Duran; Writing by Byron Kaye; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)