Italy's Giochi Preziosi eyes IPO in 12-15 months

By Massimo Gaia

MILAN, March 22 (Reuters) - Giochi Preziosi, a leading Italian toy maker and retailer that plans to bring out a fashion doll to take on Mattel's (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) ubiquitous Barbie, will likely seek a bourse listing in 12-to-15 months, its chairman said on Thursday.

"We've been getting ready for some time, because we know (a listing) is a difficult challenge," Enrico Preziosi told a news conference about the company's 2007-2009 industrial plan.

Giochi, which makes and sales everything from models to video games of a variety of toy characters, is controlled by Ludica, a holding company 52 percent owned by 3i (III.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a British private equity firm.

It is best known in Italy for Gormiti, a series of grotesque and futuristic figurines, 20 million pieces of which have been already been sold.

Giochi has already reached a deal with Mediaset (MS.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Italy's leading TV broadcaster, to produce a cartoon serial based on the game.

It is also in talks with News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Fox to bring it to the United States.

Sergio Sambonet, who represents 3i in Italy and acts as vice chairman of Giochi, said the company would likely list 30 percent of its stock in an initial public offering (IPO) that could value all of Giochi at about 1.0 billion euros.

Giochi had yet to hire advisers for the IPO, Sambonet said, adding that 3i would likely remain a shareholder.