(Reuters) - The owner of Trainline has appointed investment bank Morgan Stanley to oversee a potential 400 million pound float of Britain's biggest online rail booking system, Sky News reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Exponent, a private equity firm that has held a controlling stake in Trainline since 2006, has not decided the timing of the probable initial public offering, sources told Sky. (http://bit.ly/VdqsrQ)
Established in 1999, Trainline was bought by Exponent for about 160 million pounds from a consortium which included Virgin, Stagecoach and National Express.
Sky quoted sources as saying that an outright sale of Trainline, which handles ticket sales for the majority of UK rail operating companies, was also an option.
Exponent, Trainline and Morgan Stanley could not immediately be reached for a comment.
(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr)