News: EQT UPDATE 1-EQT sets price range for 1.2 bln-1.3 bln euro Stockholm share listing

• EQT sets price range of SEK 62-68
• Order book set to open on Friday
• Range values company at 5.5-6 bln euro

(Adds background, quotes)

Swedish private equity firm EQT unveiled the price range on Thursday for the shares it will list on the Stockholm bourse to raise up to 1.3 billion euros ($1.44 billion) for overseas expansion.

EQT plans to sell around 20 percent of its shares at 62-68 Swedish krona ($6.44-$7.06) each in the maiden listing, according to a lead manager, raising between 1.2 billion-1.3 billion euros.

Investors will be able to place orders across the price range from Friday morning onwards. The initial public offering (IPO) looks set to value the company between 11.8-13.0 billion Swedish krona, or 5.5-6.0 bln euros, the lead manager said.

The IPO will fund continued investments in the business and growth opportunities, including expansion in North America and Asia-Pacific, the company said in a statement.

The deal will consist of a mixture of new shares -- that will raise about 501-550 million euros equivalent for the firm

• and existing shares sold by the owners.

  The selling shareholders in the IPO will primarily consist of Swedish investment company Investor AB and a group of partners, including three former partners.

  With 40 billion euros ($45 billion) under management, EQT has transformed itself since its 1994 launch from an investment arm for Sweden's influential Wallenberg family into Europe's second-largest private equity fund behind Britain's CVC.

  "In order to future-proof EQT and continue our growth, we are considering taking this a step further by building EQT's own balance sheet," Chief Executive Christian Sinding told Reuters in July.

  ($1 = 0.9039 euros) ($1 = 9.6293 Swedish crowns)