CVC, UBS plan April IPO of Australian hotel operator Mantra - source

SYDNEY, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Hong Kong private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific Ltd and UBS AG plan to list Mantra Group, Australia's second-largest hotel operator, in a public float worth about A$500 million ($448 million) in April, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Mantra, which doesn't own properties but manages about 13,000 hotel rooms in the Peppers, BreakFree and Mantra chains around Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, was bought by CVC in 2008.

CVC then handed a stake in the asset to UBS in a debt for equity swap, giving UBS a 40 percent stake and CVC 60 percent.

Both vendors expect to continue to hold shares following the listing, the source said.

The companies plan analyst roadshow in about two weeks to market the sale with hopes for a listing date in the week before Easter in mid-April.

($1 = 1.1169 Australian dollars)

(Reporting By Byron Kaye; Editing by Matt Driskill)

((byron.kaye@thomsonreuters.com)(+612 9373 1815))

Keywords: AUSTRALIA MANTRA/IPO