EQT sets price range of SEK 62-68 Order book set to open on...

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

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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)