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* Citi, Goldman and Morgan Stanley hired on ViiV -sources
* GSK CEO sees board deciding mid-2015 on IPO plans
* Two new HIV drugs performing better than expected (Recasts with GSK CEO comments)
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline set out aroadmap for a potential 2016 flotation of its HIV medicinesbusiness on Wednesday as it hired three leading banks to adviseon what would be the drug industry's largest ever initial publicshare sale.
Chief Executive Andrew Witty said his company would take thenext two to three months to analyse the pros and cons of aninitial public offering (IPO), as well as deciding how much ofViiV to sell and where to list the shares.
The GSK board would then decide around mid-year whether togo ahead with the float, allowing the company to giveshareholders an update on plans at second-quarter 2015 results.
Assuming a positive decision, the management team to takeViiV public will be confirmed and executives will spend timemeeting would-be investors.
"They need to have time to talk to investors well in advanceof the potential flotation and by the time you've done that youare now into 2016," Witty told reporters on a full-year resultsconference call.
GSK has hired Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley asfinancial advisers on ViiV, according to sources familiar withthe matter.
GSK declined to comment on its advisers.
The drugmaker first announced in October it was looking tofloat its fast-growing HIV drugs operation business as part of aplan to reshape its business and Witty told Reuters earlier thismonth that ViiV could serve as a model for future moves.
The British group has a stake of nearly 80 percent in ViiVHealthcare, with Pfizer and Shionogi holdingthe rest.
Analysts have anticipated a market value of between 12billion and 18 billion pounds ($18-27 billion) for the business,although the final price will depend on the commercial successof ViiV's new HIV treatments.
GSK said on Wednesday that sales of two key HIV drugs,Tivicay and Triumeq, were running at higher levels thanexpected, helping push overall ViiV sales 15 percent higher to1.5 billion pounds in 2014.
($1 = 0.6562 pounds) (Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
