By Arno Schuetze and Dasha Afanasieva
FRANKFURT/LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm Bain is moving ahead with preparations for the initial float of French vehicle spare parts distributor Autodis , which could take place in March or April, sources familiar with the matter said.
BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs are organising the deal as so called global coordinators, with Citi , HSBC and Natixis acting as bookrunners and Rothschild as independent adviser on the Paris listing, they said.
BNP Paribas, HSBC, Citi and Rothschild declined to comment. Bain, Goldman Sachs and Natixis were not immediately available for comment.
Bankers are hoping the IPO will value the company at more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) including debt, based on a valuation of 12 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation which is forecast at just above 100 million euros for 2018, one of the sources said.
German peer Stahlgruber was sold to Chicago-based LKQ at that multiple in late 2017. The issue volume will be around 25-50 percent, depending on investor feedback with a mix of new shares and existing ones from Bain, the source said.
Some of the proceeds will be used to reduce Autodis' leverage, which stands at around five times its core earnings.
Based in Arcueil, on the edge of Paris, Autodis specialises in selling spare parts for light vehicles and trucks and has a history of private equity ownership as buyout funds have repeatedly injected capital for more than a decade.
In 2006, Bahrain-based Investcorp acquired the firm, also known as Autodistribution Group, but struggled to make profits as the industry suffered a dramatic fall in demand, with manufacturers, dealers and suppliers all affected.
Autodis went through a long restructuring with private equity firm TowerBrook Capital taking a majority stake in 2009 as part of a debt-for-equity swap deal and managing its turnaround until 2015 when it sold it to Bain.
As part of its buy-and-build strategy Bain made several bolt-on acquisitions to take Autodis into other European markets, including the purchase of three Italian businesses - Ovam, Top Car and Ricauto.($1 = 0.8089 euros)
(Editing by Alison Williams)
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