Italy's Lottomatica expected to price IPO at bottom of range - bookrunner

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian gambling firm Lottomatica is expected to price shares for its initial public offering (IPO) at 9 euros, at the bottom of its target range, according to a bookrunner message on Thursday.

At this price, the company would debut on the Milan Stock Exchange with a market cap of 2.265 billion euros ($2.49 billion).

Lottomatica, which is expected to start trading on May 3, had set an initial target price of 9-11 euros per share.

Bookrunners, in a message to investors, added that books are multiple times oversubscribed at 9 euros and over.

The offer is closing on Thursday at 1400 GMT.

Lottomatica is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

UniCredit, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan act as bookrunners and joint global coordinators for the IPO, while Apollo Capital Solutions, Banca Akros, BNP Paribas and Mediobanca are only bookrunners. Equita is co-manager.

($1 = 0.9079 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, editing by Gavin Jones)