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* Sets offer price range of 240-310 pence per share
* To raise 50 mln pounds from new shares to pay down debt
* Expects to make stock market debut on March 22
By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - British home and motor insureresure expects to be valued at around 1.1 billion pounds ($1.7billion) when it makes its London stock market debut this month,it said on Friday.
That values founder and chairman Peter Wood's stake at morethan half a billion pounds and means he could bank around 170million pounds from selling a third of his holding.
Esure, which insures about 5 percent of Britain's motorists, set a price range of 240 pence to 310 pence per share for theoffering, in which it plans to float up to half of its shares.
After years of subdued listing activity due to the financialcrisis, London has seen a resurgence in companies seeking tosell shares on its markets this year.
British estate agent Countrywide and cable products makerHellermannTyton are also in the process of listing.
Announcing its flotation plans last week, esure, which ownsthe female-focused Sheilas' Wheels brand, reported 2012 pretaxprofit more than doubled to 115 million pounds.
"Our 2012 results were excellent and investors will clearlylook at that and make their own decisions," Chief ExecutiveStuart Vann told Reuters on Friday, as investor roadshows kickedoff in London.
"We will be seeing (investors in) a lot of different marketsover the next two weeks so it is a very exciting time for us,very busy but very exciting."
On a 2013 forward price-to-earnings basis, Esure's valuationis roughly in line with fellow British motor insurer Direct Line, which is deemed to have lower growth prospects, and ata discount to Admiral Group, two people familiar withthe matter said.
Direct Line and Admiral Group trade at 10.25 and 14.02 times12-month forward earnings respectively, according to ThomsonReuters StarMine.
WIPING OUT DEBT
Esure, which plans to raise 50 million pounds from the saleof new shares to wipe out its debt, said the bulk of theoffering would be made up of existing shares sold by Wood, ToscaPenta Investments as well as company management and employees.
How much they sell will depend on where the offer prices,but the total stake floated will be between 35 and 50 percent ofthe company, prior to an overallotment option which could seethe offer size increased by 15 percent if demand is strong.
Last week Wood, esure's biggest investor with a stake ofabout 50 percent, said he would sell at most a third of that.
At the mid-point of the price range the company said itexpected to be valued at 1.1 billion pounds, with the sellingshareholders receiving around 438 million pounds.
Wood will remain esure's largest shareholder following thelisting, which is expected to be completed on March 22.
The entrepreneur, who in 1985 pioneered telephone-basedinsurance sales in Britain with the launch of Direct Line,founded esure 13 years ago as a joint venture with mortgagelender Halifax, which was acquired by Lloyds in 2008.
In 2010, he led a consortium that paid 200 million poundsfor a 70 percent stake in esure held by Lloyds.
Direct Line, majority owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, floated in October last year and has seen its sharesrise around 20 percent since.
Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan are joint global co-ordinatorsand joint bookrunners on esure's sale, while Canaccord Genuityand Numis Securities are co-lead managers.
