Last checked at 
* Aims to raise about 1 bln euros from selling new shares
* Deal could value firm at 6-8 bln euros - sources
* Q1 IPO could be the first of many in Germany
(Updates with CEO comments, sources on valuation, context)
By Arno Schuetze and Douglas Busvine
FRANKFURT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - German used-car trading
platform AUTO1 plans to list on the Frankfurt stock exchange,
the company said on Wednesday, kicking off what is expected to
be a busy season for initial public offerings in Germany.
AUTO1, the top platform for buying and selling in Europe's
600-billion-euro market for used cars, added it aimed to raise
about 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) by selling new shares.
The nine-year-old Berlin startup, which is also the leading
online platform for used-car dealers in continental Europe, will
plough three-quarters of the IPO proceeds into Autohero, its
younger direct-to-consumer brand.
"We see strong demand for a fully digital used-car buying
experience," Chief Executive Christian Bertermann told reporters
on a conference call.
"That's why we want to grow Autohero into Europe's leading
online car retailer."
The deal is expected to open this year's IPO market in
Germany, where other large listings are lining up, including
Vodafone's mobile towers unit Vantage, labs group
Synlab, software group Suse and online retailer About You.
Two people involved in the deal said the IPO could value
AUTO1 at 6-8 billion euros following the fundraising - above
earlier suggestions it could command a market value of 5 billion
euros or more. The company declined to comment.
Separately, Polish parcel locker firm InPost said it would
float on Euronext Amsterdam in a deal sources have said could
give it an equity value of 7-8 billion euros.
WELL BACKED
Founded by Bertermann and partner Hakan Koc in 2012, AUTO1
has attracted $1.4 billion of backing, according to Crunchbase,
including from the SoftBank Vision Fund.
Existing shareholders may sell some shares to ensure there
is enough liquidity in the listed stock, AUTO1 said, announcing
its intention to float in the first quarter of the year subject
to market conditions.
While AUTO1 has no direct peers in Europe, it has drawn
comparisons with U.S. online car dealers such as Carvana
, Vroom, Shift and Carmax.
Carvana has a market value of nearly $50 billion and a
direct-to-consumer model that makes an event out of bringing a
car to a buyer's home - an experience Autohero is seeking to
emulate with its fleet of see-through delivery trucks.
Bertermann sees no risk of Autohero cannibalising AUTO1's
wholesale franchise - the cars it sells are younger and have
fewer kilometres on the clock than those destined for dealer
forecourts.
AUTO1 reported revenues of 3.5 billion euros and sold
615,000 cars in 2019, the last full year for which it has
reported results. The company squeezed out its first significant
core profit in the third quarter of 2020 as sales recovered from
a spring slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company will use around a quarter of the IPO proceeds to
repay a convertible loan taken out last year.
Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank
and BNP Paribas are organising the IPO as global
coordinators, with the help of Barclays, HSBC, Numis, RBC,
Credit Agricole, Commerzbank, Mizuho and Wells Fargo.
($1=0.8216 euros)
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Mark Potter)
