Sperian board to pick rival to Cinven bid -source

PARIS May 19 (Reuters) - The board of French protective clothing maker Sperian Protection SPEP.PA plans to announce its choice of a rival bidder to Cinven on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The offer will be presented at a shareholders meeting later on Wednesday, the source said.

French holding company Menelas, owned by Cinven Investment Fund, launched a 70 euro a share offer for Sperian earlier this year, valuing the maker of protective clothing at 536.2 million euros ($665.7 million). Sperian said on Monday it had received offers "significantly higher" than 70 euros a share.

The shares were suspended on Wednesday after closing at 88.75 euros on Tuesday. ($1=.8054 Euro) (Reporting by Florent Le Quintrec and Julien Ponthus; Editing by James Regan)