Finnish utility Elenia lines up bankers for sale that could be worth $2.7 bln -sources

By Emiliano Mellino and Freya Berry

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The majority shareholders ofFinnish electricity distributor Elenia Oy have lined up GoldmanSachs and Citi to sell the business, in what could be one ofEurope's biggest infrastructure deals this year, two sourcesfamiliar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sale of the company could be worth up to 2.5 billioneuros ($2.7 bln) and will kick off in mid-February, the sourcessaid.

Finland's second-biggest electricity distributor iscontrolled by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners and 3iInfrastructure, who own 45 percent and 39.3 percent,respectively. 3i manages an additional 5.6 percent stake ownedby U.S. Pension fund TIAA CREF.

3i's final decision as to whether or not to dispose of itsstake will depend on the price offered by potential buyers, asource familiar with the process said.

It is unclear whether pension fund Ilmarinen, which owns 10percent of Elenia, will also sell its stake.

Elenia, Goldman Sachs, Citi, 3i and Ilmarinen declined tocomment.

The company, which covers more than 100 municipalities inFinland, was previously owned by Swedish state power companyVattenfall, which sold it for about 1.5 billion euros in 2012.

Elenia had annual revenues of 229.7 million euros in 2014and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, andamortization (EBITDA) of 153.9 million euros.

The decision to sell the business follows on from severaldisposals in recent years of regulated grid businesses byEuropean energy firms seeking to cut debt.

These assets have become increasingly popular among pensionfunds and other institutional investors seeking relatively safereturns in a low interest rate world.

Finland's Fortum has in the last three yearsdisposed of all of its Scandinavian distribution assets, sellingFinland's largest distribution business for 2.6 billion euros in2013. It sold its Swedish electricity grid for 6.6 billion euroslast year, in a deal that valued the company at around 16.6times earnings before interest, taxes depreciation andamortization (EBITDA).

In both deals the buying consortium included infrastructureinvestor Borealis, which manages a portfolio on behalf ofCanadian pension fund OMERS, and several regional pension funds.

($1 = 0.9203 euros) (Additional reporting by Jussi Rosendahl in Helsinki; Editingby Susan Fenton)