Hellman & Friedman starts preparations for Scout24 IPO - sources

* IPO could come only months after acquisition of the asset

* Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) , Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) expected to organise IPO - sources

* Flotation could come as soon as late 2014 - sources (Adds peer performance)

By Sophie Sassard, Arno Schuetze and Freya Berry

LONDON/FRANKFURT, July 31 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has started preparations for a potential stock market listing of Scout24, just months after buying the German classified advertising group from Deutsche Telekom (Xetra: 555750 - news) , three sources familiar with the matter said.

The investment firm has chosen STJ Advisors to organise the process, in which Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are expected to act as global coordinators with the help of Jefferies, JP Morgan (Other OTC: JPXSZ - news) and Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , they added.

Investment banks that have been invited to pitch are also being asked to present other ideas on what to do with the cluster of internet portals, which includes real estate site ImmobilienScout24 and car trading site AutoScout24, one of the sources said.

"They want to take advantage of the market while it is there," another source monitoring the process said.

In February Hellman & Friedman closed a deal to acquire a 70 percent stake in Scout24 for about 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion), valuing the group at 2 billion euros or about 20 times its expected operating earnings.

In a share listing, which could take place as soon as later this year or in early 2015, Scout24 may be valued at roughly the same level, the sources said, although final pricing would largely depend on market conditions and the performance of peers.

Shares (Frankfurt: DI6.F - news) in UK online property portal Rightmove currently trade at 17.2 times its expected forward EBITDA, according to Reuters data. Earlier this year, peer Zoopla also floated on the London stock exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) .

Stocks of newly listed internet groups have had a mixed performance so far this year.

While shares in Zoopla have risen 8 percent since their flotation, shares in Spanish online travel agency eDreams Odigeo have plunged 56 percent and shares in British online domestic appliances retailer AO World have lost 48 percent since their debuts.

In Germany at least three other internet groups are currently preparing for stock market listings, with some expected to come through later this year.

Rocket Internet, the German venture capital group behind dozens of online start-ups, is planning for an IPO as is one of its biggest investments, online fashion retailer Zalando

German publisher Axel Springer SPRGn.DE has also started preparations to float its online classified advertising unit.

The size of a potential listing of Scout24 has not yet been decided, one of the people familiar with the matter said, but added that initially the investor might float a stake of as little as 20 percent. "But that will really depend on demand".

"An IPO would give Hellman & Friedman the opportunity to have a listed asset and sell down in due course," the person said.

Scout24, the advisors and Deutsche Telekom declined to comment, while STJ and Hellman & Friedman were not immediately available for comment. (Additional reporting by Alexander Hübner; Editing by Greg Mahlich)