FRANKFURT, March 10 (Reuters) - German engineering groupVoith is launching the sale of its industrial services businessin a potential 350 million euro ($375 million) deal, two peoplefamiliar with the matter said.
The unlisted group is seeking to catch up with a rapidtechnological shift in the manufacturing sector from mechanicaland electrical to digital systems.
Voith has appointed investment bank Rothschild tofind a buyer, the sources added.
Rothschild declined to comment and a Voith spokesman was notimmediately available for comment.
The business being sold employs 18,000 staff in maintenanceand assembly services for the auto, energy and chemicalsindustries and posted sales of 1.2 billion euros last year.
Voith Chief Executive Hubert Lienhard said last month thathe wants to focus on the so-called Industrial Internet, throughwhich traditional supply chains are being turned into businessnetworks capable of capitalising on the latest digital trends.
He also announced a restructuring that includes 1,600 jobcuts, mainly in its ailing paper machine tools operation.
As part of its push into increased automation anddigitisation of manufacturing processes, Voith acquired a 25percent stake in industrial robot maker Kuka lastyear.
Voith is expected to market the industrial services businessto peers such as Spie and Tyco, as well as buyout groupssuch as EQT, Apax, Bridgepoint and DBAG, which have experiencewith similar assets, the sources said.
Other sources close to potential buyers said that thebusiness could be valued at seven to eight times its earningsbefore interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
The business posted EBITDA of 38 million euros last year,but excluding certain one-offs, its core earnings were about 45million euros, the sources said. ($1 = 0.9335 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by David Goodman)