By Emma-Victoria Farr
FRANKFURT, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners BIP.N and Antin Infrastructure Partners ANTIN.PA are among several bidders vying for a stake in German metering firm Techem, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Private equity fund Partners Group PGHN.S wants to sell its majority stake for as much as 9 billion euros ($9.50 billion), but offers may be closer to 7 billion euros, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Management meetings for the dual track process, which could include a sale or IPO, were held last week, they added. Sale documentation will be circulated month with the aim of collecting bids by the end of the year, one of the people said.
A decision on an alternative IPO track will be taken year once bids have been evaluated, this person added. European companies are confronting IPO risks as macroeconomic conditions worsen, with defence contractor Renk recently pulling its IPO.
If the deal goes ahead as planned, it will be one of the largest deals to take place in Germany in recent months. Carrier Global Corp's CARR.N $13 billion acquisition of Viessmann Climate Solutions took the top spot so far this year in Germany.
KKR, Blackstone, GIP and Macquarie are also looking to bid for Techem, Bloomberg reported last month. Some parties may form consortia to meet the sizeable equity ticket, one of the sources said.
Partners, Techem, Brookfield, Antin, KKR, Blackstone, Macquarie and GIP declined to comment.
A consortium led by Swiss asset manager Partners Group bought Techem from Macquarie MQG.AX in a deal worth 4.6 billion euros in May 2018. Other investors included Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) as well as Techem's management.
Alongside energy management, Techem offers products and services for carbon dioxide-reduction in apartments and commercial real estate.
Founded in 1952, the company has over 4,000 employees in 19 countries and services more than 12.5 million residences.
The company generated sales of 899.6 million euros in its 2021/2022 fiscal year, according to filings.
($1 = 0.9481 euros)
(Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr in Frankfurt, editing by Anousha Sakoui and Lincoln Feast)