Private equity form CVC wants to sell its Danish retailer Matas while Nordic peer Altor is preparing to sell Swedish food supply business Eurocater, a brace of Nordic deals that could be worth a total 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion), people familiar with the matter said.

The planned sales, expected to start later this year, show Nordic markets are preparing to end the year as they started - with a slew of deals worth billions of dollars that will attract private equity giants and large corporate groups alike.

And more deals were expected.

Alipes, the investment vehicle for Ikea and Ikano, plans to sell spectacles retailer Synsam and wants 500 million euros for the business, two people said.

Also, GMT Partners is looking to sell security firm Multicom, which two other people said could fetch up to 100-120 million euros.

The wave of sales highlights a market that continues to punch above its weight in terms of buyouts.

Dealmaking in the Nordic region started with a bang in 2012 with the sale of tools group Ahlsell for 1.8 billion euros, the joint largest deal of the year and building on 2011, which saw the region claim two of the three largest European deals.

Underpinning the region's attractiveness to private equity groups are economic growth rates ahead of many economies in the euro zone, and a deep pool of companies with strong sales, high-quality management, and strong local banks willing to lend.

DEALS

Buyout firm CVC is looking to dispose of Matas, which sells beauty products and non-prescription medicines from 300 shops in Denmark. It has hired Morgan Stanley and Nordea to run an auction that should start after the summer, two people familiar with that situation said.

CVC bought the country's leading retailer of personal care products in 2007, for 5.2 billion Danish Crowns ($865 million).

Matas could fetch 600-800 million euros, the people said.

Meanwhile, local private equity house Altor has hired JP Morgan to sell Eurocater and is after more than 500 million euros for a food service business that supplies restaurants, hotels and catering firms across Denmark and Sweden, three of the banking sources said.

Eurocater could appeal to Brakes, the British food supplier owned by Bain Capital, when the sale kicks off later this year, two people familiar with the situation said.

Eurocater had sales of 816 million euros in its 2010/11 year and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 43 million.

It is also expected to draw interest from the large Nordic private equity groups EQT and Nordic Capital, as well as pan-European groups, one of those people said.

Alipes has hired Goldman Sachs to launch an auction of spectacles retailer Synsam this year, two of the people said.

Meanwhile, GMT is looking for buyers for its monitored-alarms business Multicom, which one person said could appeal to EQT and Nordic Capital as well as security firms like Securitas Direct.

CVC, Altor, Alipes and GMT either declined to comment or were not available to comment. ($1 = 0.8077 euro = 6.0098 Danish crowns)

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