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* IPO could value Numericable around 5 bln euros-sources
* Altice, Cinven, Carlyle are owners of Numericable
* Numericable has 1.3 bln customers, covers 1/3 of France
By Sophie Sassard, Matthieu Protard and Leila Abboud
LONDON/PARIS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Cable operator Numericableis preparing a stock market listing that could value the privateequity-backed firm at about 5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) andtake place in early November, two people close to the situationsaid.
With the listing, Numericable's owners - Cinven, Carlyle andAltice Group, which is owned by entrepreneur Patrick Drahi - areseeking to ride a wave of investor interest in European cableoperators as they take broadband market share from traditionaltelecom companies.
Dutch cable group Ziggo drew strong demand forits listing last year and other cable assets enjoy premiumvaluations because they are considered takeover targets.Vodafone has bought two cable operators in the past 18months, most recently Kabel Deutschland for 7.7billion euros.
Numericable will hold a conference for analysts on Thursdayin Paris and is expected to hold investor roadshows in lateSeptember. French radio and website BFM first reported detailsof the analyst conference to prepare the initial public offering(IPO).
The sources said the group was aiming for a valuation of 8-9times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation andamortisation (EBITDA). In comparison, the six listed cablecompanies in Europe had an average valuation of 8.4 timesestimated EBITDA for 2013 and 8.1 times 2014 EBITDA, accordingto analysts at Espirito Santo investment bank.
"We have had early talks with big investors in the sector inEurope and gotten good initial feedback," said one of thesources.
Numericable covers 9.9 million homes, roughly one third ofhouseholds in France, offering packages of pay-TV, Internet andfixed calls. Its Completel unit sells high-speed broadband tocorporate clients.
With 1.3 million customers, it grew revenues by 3.8 percentto 453 million euros in the first half of the year, whileoperating profit stayed stable at 230 million euros. Numericablecompetes for broadband and TV customers with market leaderOrange, Iliad, and Vivendi's SFR.
Numericable has secured permission from its lenders to mergeits enterprise unit Completel into its consumer business beforedoing the IPO, sources earlier told Reuters.
A merged company could be worth up to 5 billion euros basedon a multiple of around 8 times Numericable's 2012 core earningsof 456 million euros, plus 181 million euros for Completel.
Numericable has around 2.3 billion euros of debt andCompletel approximately 450 million euros of debt.
Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are leading the operation forNumericable, according to French media reports.
JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Credit Agricole areexpected to underwrite the listing, said the two sources.
Numericable held talks over a merger with Vivendi's SFR,France's second-biggest mobile operator, last year but they fellapart over valuation and opposition from Vivendi's largestshareholder Vincent Bollore.
Some analysts believe that Numericable remains an attractivetakeover target for SFR or third-place mobile operator Bouygues as both seek to bolster their broadband services toblunt fierce competition in the French market.
Altice did not return calls for comment on Monday. Carlyleand Cinven declined to comment.
A spokesman for Numericable, from Brunswick public relationsagency, declined to comment.
