Tumi Holdings sees IPO priced at $15-$17 per share

(Reuters) - Tumi Holdings, which makes luxury baggage and travel goods, said it expects its initial public offering of 18.8 million shares to be priced between $15 to $17 each.

At the midpoint of the expected price range, Tumi will raise about $301 million in gross proceeds.

South Plainfield, New Jersey-based Tumi will offer about 17.6 million shares in the IPO, while selling shareholders will offer the rest.

The company, which is backed by European private equity group Doughty Hanson, posted net sales of $330 million on operating income of $60.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Tumi will use the proceeds from the offering to buy back its preferred stock from shareholders.

The company, which sells its products through multiple channels including retail, wholesale and e-commerce, said it expects to open 8 to 16 company-owned stores in each of the next three years.

Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and J.P.Morgan are lead underwriters to the offering.

Tumi expects to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "TUMI."

(Reporting by Sharanya Hrishikesh in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)