(Reuters) - Financial information service provider Markit said it expected its IPO to be priced at US$23-US$25 per share, which could value the company at up to US$4.47 billion (S$5.6 billion).

The company, which competes with Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters Corp , said selling shareholders, including certain employees and members of the management, were offering 45.7 million common shares.

The IPO could raise as much as US$1.14 billion.

The company intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "MRKT".

Markit, founded by Canadian Lance Uggla in 2001, provides pricing and reference data, indices and valuation services. It has more than 3,000 institutional customers globally, including banks, hedge funds and asset managers.

Markit Group Holdings Employee Benefit Trust is the largest shareholder with about 12.46 per cent, followed by private equity firm General Atlantic with 11.5 per cent. After the offering the Trust's stake will drop to 12.35 per cent while General Atlantic will hold about 11.41 per cent.

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings holds about 10.47 per cent in Markit through its wholly owned subsidiary Esta Investments Pte Ltd.

The company also counts Bank of America Corp, Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc among major stockholders.

These firms also use Markit's financial data and trade processing services primarily for the credit market.

Markit's profit attributable to equity holders fell about 21.5 per cent to US$39.8 million for the three months ended March 31. Revenue rose about 14 per cent to US$259.4 million.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup and Credit Suisse were among the lead underwriters for the offering.