KKR preps vending machine operator Selecta for $1 billion IPO: sources

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Buyout group KKR has started preparations to list vending machine operator Selecta on the stock exchange as soon as the fourth quarter 2018 and is sounding out banks for another blockbuster Swiss listing, people close to the matter said.

The private equity firm is working with investment bank Lazard as so called IPO advisor on the deal, they added.

Lazard has already reached out to other banks to gauge their interest in helping to organise the transaction which may see shares worth about 1 billion Swiss francs ($1 billion) sold, one of the people said.

In a bid to lock in high stock market valuations, the Selecta IPO may take place in late 2018, although a 2019 deal is also a possibility, the people said, adding that KKR will alternatively be open to an outright sale if receives attractive offers.

KKR declined to comment. Lazard had no immediate comment.

($1 = 0.9893 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Dasha Afanasieva; additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; editing by Edward Taylor and Christoph Steitz)