MILAN, March 15 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest gas

distributor 2i Rete Gas has picked five banks as global

coordinators to manage its initial public offer (IPO), two

sources close to the matter said on Friday.

The gas group has selected BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs ( GS ),

Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca and UniCredit to handle the proposed

listing on the Milan bourse, which one source said may happen as

early as this year if market conditions allow it.

2i Rete Gas declined to comment. It said last month it was

working with Goldman Sachs ( GS ) to go public and would hire other

advisers and legal consultants for the IPO.

2i Rete Gas is controlled by Italian infrastructure fund F2i

with a 64% stake. Dutch pension fund APG and funds managed by

Ardian together hold the remaining 36.1%.

It reported revenue of 731.6 million euros ($792.4 million)

in 2022. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and

amortisation (EBITDA) totalled 502.5 million euros.

2i Rete Gas competes with listed rival Italgas which

trades at a forward multiple of 8.3 times its EBITDA in terms of

enterprise value, based on LSEG data.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Valentina Za)