Several potential buyers are preparing bids for U.S. shopping mall owner AmREIT Inc that could value the company as much as $26 a share, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

Citing unidentified sources, the FT said AmREIT had attracted interest from companies including rivals Edens and Weingarten Realty Investors as well as Regency Centers Corp, which made an unsolicited offer to buy AmREIT in July.

Bids are expected by the end of October at prices likely to range between $25 and $26 a share, the FT said, citing the sources.

AmREIT shares closed at $22.02 on Friday, close to Regency's July offer of $22 per share, which valued the company about $433 million.

Following Regency's July offer, AmREIT hired investment bank Jefferies to explore its options, the paper said.

The FT said AmREIT, Regency and Weingarten declined to comment and that Edens did not immediately respond to its request for comment.