ZURICH, March 13 (Reuters) -

Skin care company Galderma on Wednesday announced a price

range of 49 to 53 Swiss francs for its upcoming 2.3 billion

Swiss francs ($2.6 billion) flotation.

The offering consists of up to 40.5 million new shares and

277,000 existing shares, said the company. The offer period will

run from Wednesday and is anticipated to end on March 20, 2024.

There is also over-allotment option of up to 6.1 million

existing shares, the Swiss company said, which if fully

exercised will lead to an offer size of 2.3 billion Swiss

francs.

The Swiss company's initial public offering, which could be

one of the biggest flotations in Europe this year, was

originally announced last week.

Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov said last week there had

been significant interest in the flotation of the company, the

main owners of which include Swedish private equity company EQT

, Singapore's GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment

Authority (ADIA).

All three are expected to remain invested in the company,

which will have an enterprise value - equity plus debt - of

around $17 billion after the IPO.

A final offer price will be published on March 21,

Galderma said.

The company said it expected to complete its listing and

start trading in Switzerland on March 22.

($1 = 0.8776 Swiss francs)