By Arno Schuetze
FRANKFURT, March 7 (Reuters) - German drink and foodflavours maker Wild is putting itself up for sale in a deal thatcould value the company at 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion),three people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Citigroup Inc, which is organising the transaction,will send out information packages to a small group ofpre-selected bidders later this month, the people said, addingfirst bids are expected to be due by the end of April.
Simultaneously, a potential stock market listing is beingprepared, the sources said.
Hans-Peter Wild, son of founder Rudolf Wild, owns 65 percentof Wild Flavors, while buyout group KKR owns 35 percent.Wild is also the owner of a separate company which makes theCapri-Sun drink.
Potential buyers are likely to value the company at between1.4 billion euros and 1.7 billion, or 10 to 12 times WildFlavor's expected 2014 core earnings (EBITDA) of 140 millioneuros, the sources said.
That would be in line with the valuation of competitorswhich trade at about 11 times expected operating earnings,according to Thomson Reuters data.
Peers such as Givaudan, Symrise, IFF, Sensient Flavors, Ingredion andAjinomoto are likely to show interest in Wild, althoughsome may face antitrust issues as Wild is the world'ssixth-biggest flavour provider.
Separately, private equity groups such as Advent, EQT,Cinven, BC Partners, CD&R and Permira are also likely to be invited to the auction, thesources said.
"One possible outcome, which should not be ruled out, isthat the auction is mainly a price-finding exercise and mayresult in KKR buying out Wild or vice versa," one banker workingon the transaction said.
Bankers have also started preparing debt packages of about 1billion euros, or 7.5 times Wild's operating earnings, anothersource said.
Any buyer of Wild will get access to a large variety offlavours, extracts, seasonings and colours derived from naturalsources, which are crucial components of processed foods andbeverages. Customers have of late been showing increasingappetite for foods comprising only natural components.
Wild, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, was founded in 1931in Heidelberg, Germany, as a producer of ingredients fornon-alcoholic beverages. About 20 years later it started sellingLibella, Germany's first carbonated juice drink based on naturalingredients only.
Wild Flavors posted 2013 sales of almost 900 million euros.
Since KKR's investment in Wild, the flavour maker has boughtseveral companies, including Cargill's juice blends business,mint oil maker A.M. Todd and natural extracts maker Alfrebro.
KKR, Givaudan, Symrise, Ajinomoto, BC Partners, EQT, Adventand CD&R declined to comment, while Wild, IFF, Sensient Flavors,Ingredion and Cinven were not immediately available for comment.