HONG KONG (Reuters) - Private equity firms TPG Capital and Carlyle Group are planning to raise about A$2.5 billion ($2.4 billion) in an initial public offering of shares in Healthscope Ltd, Australia's biggest private hospitals operator, a source with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters.
The private equity owners are on a roadshow in Asia, lining up cornerstone investors before filing the IPO prospectus by end-June or early July, the person said.
Healthscope has an equity value of about A$4 billion and including debt, it will have a valuation of between A$4.5 billion and A$5 billion, the person said. The source declined to be identified as the details of the plans were not public.
The two firms acquired Healthscope for A$1.99 billion in 2010 and each owns 50 percent of the company.
An external spokeswoman representing all three firms - TPG, Carlyle and Healthscope - declined to comment.
($1 = 1.0639 Australian Dollars)
(Reporting by Stephen Aldred; Editing by Denny Thomas and Kenneth Maxwell)
