SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Saraiva SA Livreiros & Editores (>> Saraiva SA Livreiros Editores) has emerged as the likely buyer of Groupe Fnac SA's (>> Groupe FNAC) Brazilian business, the latest consumer electronics retailer to succumb to a three-year recession in Latin America's No. 1 economy, two people with knowledge of the process said on Thursday.

The investment-banking unit of Banco Santander Brasil SA (>> Banco Santander Brasil SA), which is Fnac's financial advisor on the process, has contacted a list of buyout firms including General Atlantic LLC, Advent International Corp and HIG Capital LLC to sound out their interest in the unit, the people said.

According to the people, who asked for anonymity as the process was private, Santander Brasil bankers also invited Península Participações SA, which oversees the fortune of retail tycoon Abilio Diniz's family, to participate in the process.

Press representatives for Brazilian bookstore and publishing group Saraiva, Advent and Península declined to comment. France-based Fnac (>> Groupe FNAC) confirmed the hiring of Santander, but declined to give any information on potential suitors or the status of the process. HIG Capital, General Atlantic and Santander did not immediately comment.

The people said there was no certainty a deal would be struck. Preferred shares in Saraiva rose 1.9 percent in early afternoon trading in Sao Paulo, to 4.34 reais, extending this year's gains to 17 percent. Groupe Fnac's shares fell 0.6 percent in Paris, closing at 66.5 euros, narrowing their rise this year to 3.5 percent.

Fnac is among a group of Brazilian appliance and consumer electronics retailers trying to sell themselves after their traditional playbook of brick-and-mortar outlets with lots of floor space and slow inventory turnover has become increasingly unsustainable in Brazil's worst recession on record.

The three-year recession has restricted access to credit, stoked unemployment and severely impacted demand for consumer electronics and other durable goods. Fnac's revenue in the country slumped by about 8 percent in 2015.

Fellow French retailer Casino Guichard Perrachon & Cie (>> Casino Guichard) is selling a 43 percent controlling stake in Via Varejo SA (>> Via Varejo SA), Brazil's No. 1 appliance chain. Aside from Via Varejo, other potential takeover targets include Máquina de Vendas SA and smaller rival Eletrosom SA.[nL1N1EP0W6]

Fnac's Brazil operations account for less than 2 percent of the group's 7.4 billion euros (6 billion pounds) annual sales globally, according to company data.

Efforts to integrate Darty Plc, which Fnac acquired last year, have also led the French chain to focus expansion on Europe, mainly in France, Spain and Portugal.

(Editing by Chris Reese and Andrew Hay)

By Tatiana Bautzer