PARIS (Reuters) - Preferred bidders for the Areas business of French company Elior ELIOR.PA are expected to be chosen by the start of March, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

The source added that a second round of bids for the Areas catering business was also underway.

A separate source had earlier told Reuters that Italian company Autogrill AGL.MI had submitted a bid for Areas, and that around 10 private equity funds - including KKR and Lone Star - were considering making a bid.

Analysts value Areas - which has core earnings of about 200 million euros - at 7.5 to 10 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) compared to 8 to 11 times for Autogrill or Britain's SSP Group Plc SSPG.L.

The website for Areas says the company is France’s biggest travel caterer, with 842 restaurants and outlets in France.