Germany's Flix eyes stake sale in IPO rethink, sources say

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German bus and train services company Flix is seeking alternatives to a stock market listing and is in talks with investors including private equity firm EQT on a potential stake sale, two people close to the matter said.

Talks are at an early stage, the sources said.

Business newspaper Handelsblatt, which first reported the news, said talks were for a 30% stake in Flix.

The company could be valued at 3.2 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in a deal, one of the sources said, adding that this would be more than could be fetched in a potential IPO at the moment.

Flix and EQT declined to comment.

Reuters reported last year that Flix had picked banks as advisers for a planned initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of 2024.

The banks involved were JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, sources said at the time.

($1 = 0.9302 euros)

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Ludwig Burger and Christoph Steitz; Editing by David Goodman)