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* Hitachi hires Barclays for elevator auction - sources
* Blackstone, Kone, CVC to get access to data room - sources
* Thyssenkrupp shares turn positive
(Adds details, background)
By Junko Fujita, Arno Schuetze and Christoph Steitz
TOKYO/FRANKFURT, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp
plans to give potential bidders access to the data room of its
elevator division in the coming days, three people familiar with
the matter said, as one of Europe's biggest M&A deals of the
year picks up pace.
Japan's Hitachi is working with investment bank
Barclays to explore a bid for the unit, which is valued
anywhere between 12 billion and 17 billion euros ($13.2-$18.7
billion), the people said.
Apart from Hitachi, access will be granted to Finland's Kone
, Blackstone, CVC and Carlyle
as well as a consortium consisting of Advent, Cinven
and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, they added.
All parties declined to comment or were not immediately
available for comment.
Thyssenkrupp shares briefly turned positive on the news
before trading 0.4% lower at 1501 GMT.
Sources told Reuters last month that tentative bids were due
at the end of October.
Given that rival elevator makers will be able to reap
synergies from a deal, industry players are expected to bid
higher prices than private equity firms, which will likely value
the asset closer to the lower end of the range.
The full or partial sale of Thyssenkrupp Elevator Technology
(ET) forms the core of a restructuring plan for the ailing
German conglomerate, which has suffered a loss in investor
confidence after four profit warnings.
In a sign of how serious the situation has become,
Chairwoman Martina Merz this month took over as interim chief
executive, hoping to speed up a plan to reduce the group's
complex set-up, a long-term target of investor criticism.
On Tuesday, Merz briefed top managers at the group about
efforts to slim down, including job cuts in administration,
where the group spends more than 2 billion euros every year.
Proceeds from a sale of ET are badly needed by the group to
cut liabilities and pay for a restructuring that will likely
result in the disposal of further assets in its struggling plant
engineering, car parts and shipbuilding divisions.
The vice chairman of ET's supervisory board said
Thyssenkrupp needed to keep a majority stake in the division to
make sure it can benefit from future cash streams in a bid to
fund the company's turnaround.
($1 = 0.9104 euros)
(Editing by Tassilo Hummel and Mark Potter)
