(SINGAPORE) Singapore's largest watch retailer Sincere Watch is expected to be sold this week to a consortium, BT understands.

The consortium is said to include former owner Tay Liam Wee, who is expected to take a minor stake and become part of management.

The incoming investors are said to be experienced in the luxury watch trade and will be active investors.

Speculation is that the consortium could include the LVMH Group, which has been active in the local watch circuit. It is unclear if it would take a direct stake in Sincere, or through Chinese company Xinyu Hengdeli. LVMH owns about 7 per cent of Xinyu.

Xinyu also distributes the Tissot, Longines, Omega and Rado watch brands, which are owned by major European watch player and another substantial shareholder, Swatch Group.

Sincere and the liquidators declined comment.

The bid price is unclear, though speculation earlier was that some bids came in at between S$200 million and S$300 million.

This is a distant amount from the S$530 million that Peace Mark paid when it bought Sincere in December 2007.

The fate of the prominent watch retailer, which was previously listed, has been dangling with suspense over the last one year.

Mr Tay sold Sincere to Hong Kong-based Peace Mark in 2007 but saw the company being put up for sale again last October after Peace Mark was wound up for its failure to repay a multi-million-dollar bank debt.

There were talks that The Hour Glass had tried to move in to buy up Sincere Watch and boost its pricing power and market share.

But the relationship between the brand owner of crown jewel Franck Muller and Mr Tay is said to be a pivotal factor in Sincere holding on to the sole distributorship of the watches.

This deal also follows signs of tension between Mr Tay and Peace Mark, which has since been sold to Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook Jewellery - a prominent privately owned retailer - for HK$505 million (S$92.4 million) in November last year.

Mr Tay resigned from the Peace Mark board as a non-executive director a day after Peace Mark said that liquidators had been appointed to oversee the company.

In his resignation letter to the board, he cited frustration in getting no information from the management to clarify 'various matters'. According to market talk, Mr Tay was unhappy that at the time of Sincere's sale, he was unaware that Peace Mark faced threats of liquidation.

While the deal is expected to be sewn up soon, specific complications could also arise from the US$201.2 million bridge loan offered to Peace Mark by ABN Amro Bank, BNP Paribas and ING Bank as part of the acquisition then.

The banks had received share pledges of Sincere Watch as collateral for the loan, a Reuters report said.