Suitors including private equity firms Advent, Apax, BC Partners, Cinven and PAI are expected to hand in tentative bids worth around 1.5 billion euros (£1.32 billion) by a pre-Easter deadline, they added.

Providence and the potential bidders declined to comment.

The auction is being run in parallel with preparations for a potential stock market listing before the summer, the sources said, adding that Providence will choose the path promising a higher valuation.

HSE24 is expected to post earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 140 million euros this year and may be valued at 11-12 times that, the sources said.

Founded in 1995, HSE24 competes with companies such as QVC, part of John Malone's Liberty Interactive , which is seen as an unlikely buyer, the sources said, adding that it remained unclear whether German broadcaster ProSieben (>> ProSiebenSat.1 Media) would bid.

Liberty Interactive has already been an active consolidator and in July bought the remaining 62 percent of peer HSN (>> HSN, Inc.) it did not already own in a deal that values the TV shopping network at $2.1 billion.

An 85 percent stake in HSE - which markets more than 20,000 different products to customers each year in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Russia and in 2016 posted sales of 754 million euros - was sold to Providence for 650 million euros in 2012.

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Adrian Croft)