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By Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis
NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Kelso & Company has hiredBarclays and Macquarie Group to find a buyerfor event services company PSAV Presentation Services in a dealthat could fetch as much as $1 billion, according to two peoplefamiliar with the matter.
Acquired by Kelso in 2007 for $413.4 million, PSAV is thelargest provider of audiovisual services to the U.S. hotelindustry and helps coordinate events and meetings usinghigh-definition projectors and plasma screens.
The Long Beach, California-based company has earnings beforeinterest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of between$130 million and $140 million and could be sold for between $900million and $1 billion, the people said this week.
While other event services companies may be interested inPSAV, the company is more likely to be sold to another privateequity firm, one of the people added.
The people asked not to be identified because the matter isnot public. Kelso and PSAV did not respond to requests forcomment while Barclays and Macquarie declined to comment.
PSAV strengthened its position in the niche market for audiovisual services for the hotel industry last year by acquiringcompetitor Swank Holdings Inc for $270 million, equivalent to 8times Swank's EBITDA, according to a credit research note at thetime by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Inc.
This resulted in PSAV increasing its market share from 27percent to 45 percent, according to Standard & Poor's.
Founded in 1980, New York-based Kelso is currently investingout of its eight private equity funds, which raised $5.1 billionin 2008.
