The company, whose biggest shareholders include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Macquarie (>> Macquarie Group Ltd), has appointed Barclays (>> Barclays), Goldman Sachs (>> Goldman Sachs Group), HSBC (>> HSBC Holdings) and JP Morgan (>> JP Morgan Chase & Company) for the listing, the source said, confirming an earlier report from Sky News.

The banks and Arqiva did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Arqiva, which carried the BBC's first TV broadcast in 1936, works with major mobile operators, independent radio groups and leading British broadcasters.

Media reports had suggested the firm could be worth between 5 and 6 billion pounds.

The company made an operating profit of 227.5 million pounds in the nine months ending March 31, 2017 and revenue of 701.8 million pounds, according to an unaudited statement. Senior net debt amounted to 2.5 billion pounds at the end of June 2016.

Earlier this year, Rothschild and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (>> Bank of America) were hired to work on a sale, sources said. One source, who had looked at the asset, estimated an equity value of around 2 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Adrian Croft)