Exclusive: Astorg hires Goldman to sell funeral firm OGF - sources

Buyout firm Astorg Partners has hired Goldman Sachs to look for a buyer for France's leading funeral services firm, OGF, sources familiar with the mandate said.

The auction of the company, which Astorg acquired for an enterprise value of roughly 300 million euros ($393 million) in 2007, is in its early stages and could be complicated by the links between economic growth - at a virtual standstill in France - and willingness to spend on funeral services.

Still, the company has earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of about 100 million euros, so could sell for 800 million to 1 billion euros based on typical multiples for such deals, one of the sources said.

OGF had 2012 revenue of 533 million euros, representing about a quarter of the French funeral services industry, according to its website.

Astorg Partners and Goldman Sachs both declined to comment.

(Reporting by Christian Plumb and Anjuli Davies; Editing by James Regan)