(Adds expansion details, expected size of IPO, quotes)
By Thomas Escritt
AMSTERDAM, May 17 (Reuters) - Dutch gym chain Basic-Fit,which has more than 1 million members across Europe, plans tolist nearly half of its shares on the stock market in an initialpublic offering which could value the company at around 1billion euros ($1.1 billion).
Fifty two percent owned by British private equity firm 3iGroup Plc, Basic-Fit would list "more than 25 percentand less than half" its shares, Chief Executive Rene Moos said.
The income would be used to pay down undisclosed debt levelsand open new locations, it said.
The chain, which relies on automation and low staffinglevels to keep down costs, has opened dozens of new clubs eachyear across Europe. It operates 351 locations in theNetherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Spain.
It is one of the main players in a fast-growing budgetsector of gyms which, for monthly subscriptions of 25 euros orless, do not provide premium services like swimming pools, barsor restaurants.
It aims to saturate cities with gyms so that it becomes the"logical choice" for residents looking for a place to exercisebetween work and home, Moos told reporters.
In 2015, it reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax,depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 60 million euros on202 million euros in revenue.
"Scale is important in the game we play and the IPO gives usmore possibilities," said Moos, a former professional tennisplayer who entered the fitness business three decades ago.
The company plans further expansion in France and Spain inparticular, where there are fewer such gyms than in the Beneluxcountries.
He said market conditions would dictate the precise timingof the offering, which could come "before or after the summer."
Many companies are rushing to carry out listings ahead ofmarket turmoil that could result from a possible British vote toleave the European Union in a referendum on June 23, but Moossaid a Brexit would not necessarily derail plans.
ABN Amro and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint globalcoordinators and joint bookrunners. Barclays, Deutsche Bank andING Group are joint bookrunners and KBC, NIBC and Rabobankco-lead managers, it said. ($1 = 0.8842 euros) (Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by MarkPotter and Keith Weir)
3i Group (III)