Vinci's ubiquitous parking lots seen attracting 2 bln euro preliminary bid values, sources tell us

UPDATE 2-Vinci parking unit bids due end Nov, valued around 2 bln euros-sources

Vinci wants to keep 25 pct as part of deal -sources

Ardian, Credit Agricole studying joint bid -sources

Vinci, Ardian, Credit Agricole decline to comment

By Lionel Laurent and Matthieu Protard

PARIS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - First-round bids for French construction and concessions firm Vinci’s SGEF.PA parking-concession business are due by end-November, and are expected to value the firm around 2 billion euros ($2.69 billion), three sources close to the deal said.

Vinci plans to keep a 25 percent stake in the Vinci Park division and expects a range of bids to value the entire business at between 1.8 billion and 2.3 billion euros, two of the sources told Reuters.

A Vinci spokesman declined to comment on Friday. "The preliminary bids are due at the end of the month," one of the sources said. "Vinci is committed to selling but on condition that it gets to the expected price."

Vinci Park operates 2,600 parking-lot assets in 14 countries and posted 615 million euros in revenue in 2012. Analysts say the unit is profitable but exposed to the mature, slow-growing French market. A deal would offer Vinci the opportunity to raise cash to reinvest in its airports business, where growth is more promising.

Vinci Park's annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are at around 200 million euros ($269.49 million), according to sources close to the deal. Vinci has said its airport business, which recently took over Portugal's ANA, has an EBITDA of around 270 million euros.

Potential buyers include insurers, private-equity funds and infrastructure funds - mainly long-term investors interested in recurring cash flows - and they are looking at teaming up for consortium bids, according to the sources.

Private-equity firm Ardian, formerly known as AXA Private Equity, has told Reuters it is interested in the asset and two sources said it was teaming up with Credit Agricole's CAGR.PA insurance arm to study a possible bid. Ardian and Credit Agricole's insurance arm declined to comment.

"There is appetite for this type of asset and the bids will match expectations," one of the sources said.

Interested parties are also weighing up the possibility that a change of ownership may result in a weaker negotiating position with local governments and councils that award parking concessions, the source said. The risk is that some concessions may be awarded to rivals or will have to be renegotiated, he said.