LONDON (Reuters) ? Bermuda-based Bacardi Ltd. and US drinks group Brown-Forman are tipped to be leading a six-strong field to buy whisky group Glenmorangie in a ?300 million ($540 million) auction, banking sources and analysts claim.

The two are seen as front-runners since both have big distribution networks in the key US market, Glenmorangie?s single malt whiskies would fit well into either of their drinks cabinets, and both already distribute Glenmorangie, they said.

The privately owned Bacardi could win cost-saving benefits as it already owns a scotch business based around the Dewar?s brand, while Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp, maker of Jack Daniel?s, owns a ten percent stake in Glenmorangie.

?There are two front-runners, Bacardi and Brown-Forman. Bacardi has more firepower, but Brown-Forman would be the best for management in limiting job losses and plant closure,? said whisky industry guru Alan Gray at Edinburgh brokers Sutherlands. The Glenmorangie group owns three single malt distilleries ? Glenmorangie, Glen Moray and Ardbeg ? which provide 90 percent of group profit, and a bottling plant. Bacardi has five distilleries and a bottling hall, but Brown-Forman has no scotch whisky operations.

The auction for Scotland?s only independent listed whisky maker kicked off in August when the 15 members of the Macdonald family, who own 52 percent of the shares, put the 111-year old distiller up for sale. Its focus is on single malts rather than big name whisky blends like Johnnie Walker, J&B and Dewar?s.

Auction adviser Rothschild has drawn up a short-list of six buyers, including two French groups, LVMH and Pernod Ricard, two private Scottish whisky firms, Edrington and William Grant, and the two American companies.

?This is a six-horse race, but there are only two real runners ? Bacardi and Brown-Forman. The key is US distribution, so if either overpays, they can still make big savings in distribution,? said one banking source.

Currently, Glenmorangie?s products are distributed by Brown-Forman in North America and by Bacardi in Europe, but the Bermuda-based Bacardi also has a big distribution network in the US for its eponymous rum, the world?s top-selling spirit.

Glenmorangie, which sells around two million 12-bottle cases of largely single malt whiskies a year, with annual turnover of ?68.8 million, intends to announce a preferred bidder by the middle of October and complete a deal by late November.

A takeover will mark the end of one of the last UK groups with a complex A and B share structure. The more-traded As have risen 55 percent to 1,635 pence from 1,058p since it went up for sale compared to the lightly traded Bs ? largely controlled by the Macdonald family ? up 76 percent to 2,975p from 1,687p.

Bacardi has picked up brands over the last 12 years such as Martini and Rossi vermouth, Dewar?s scotch, Bombay gin and Cazadoes tequila, and is unlikely to be restrained even after paying over $2 billion for premium vodka Grey Goose in August.

Chairman Ruben Rodriguez recently said the group needed an entry to the vodka category, and Grey Goose was a ?necessity? for the group. Glenmorangie might well be another necessity to sit with its Dewar?s brand, the No 1 selling scotch in the US.

Last month, Bacardi raised a $4.4 billion loan to back the Grey Goose buy, while the Bacardi family has recently taken steps to allow it to float, and said it will base a decision on business opportunities rather than market conditions.

Brown-Forman, which also makes Southern Comfort liqueur and Fetzer wines, has distributed Glenmorangie in North American markets since 1992 and bought a ten percent equity stake in 2000. If successful, the group would be unlikely to shut plants or trim jobs.

LVMH has shown interest in international brands, but the focus for its 66 percent-owned drinks unit Moet Hennessy is largely on champagne and cognac. The rest of Moet Hennessy is owned by the world?s biggest scotch player Diageo.

Pernod Ricard is looking at Glenmorangie, but analysts say it already has the No 1 single malt in the US in Glenlivet, and its aim is to build up scale and distribution in the United States to reinforce its purchases from Seagram in 2001.

The two Scottish privately owned players may struggle to find funding, analysts said. Macallan single malt maker Edrington took control of Highland Distillers in 1999 but has recently been selling distilleries. William Grant already owns the world?s top selling single malt Glenfiddich.