Poundland appointing banks for London share sale - sources

LONDON (Reuters) - British discount retailer Poundland is moving ahead with plans for a London share sale, picking investment banks Credit Suisse and JP Morgan to advise it, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The company, majority owned by private equity group Warburg Pincus , is in the process of appointing the banks and is expected to be valued at between 700 million pounds and 800 million pounds, the people said. Last month sources said Poundland, Britain's largest single-price discount retailer, was considering a stock market flotation in the first half of next year. Warburg Pincus owns 76 percent of the company, with the balance owned by the retailer's management, led by chief executive Jim McCarthy, a 30-year veteran of the retail sector. Discount retailers have outperformed the market in the economic downturn as consumers, battling inflation rising faster than wages, have sought to make savings. The group made underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 45.4 million pounds in the year to March 31, up from 39.3 million. Poundland, Warburg Pincus, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan declined to comment. ($1 = 0.6233 British pounds) (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and James Davey; Editing by Louise Heavens)