Carlyle Group LP, the private equity firm with $147 billion in assets under management, is planning to sell a 10 percent stake in its upcoming initial public offering, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The firm, which is set to start road shows for its IPO shortly, said it might sell a 10 percent stake in a regulatory filing earlier this month.

It is looking for a valuation of between $7.5 billion and $8 billion, the source said

A Carlyle spokesman declined to comment.

William Conway, Daniel D'Aniello and David Rubenstein, who founded Carlyle in 1987, have recruited 21 banks to help market the IPO to investors. The source said road shows could kick off as early as next week.

New equity is to be issued. The founders will not pocket any IPO cash directly. Instead, the proceeds will be used to pay down debt and finance operational needs, acquisitions and new fund commitments.

Blackstone Group LP raised about $7 billion by selling a 24 percent stake in its IPO in 2007, including a 9.9 percent stake to China's state investment company.

KKR & Co LP transferred its listing from Amsterdam to New York in 2010. About 30 percent of its shares were listed in New York.

Apollo Global Management LLC, which has about 15 percent of its shares listed in the stock market, raised $382.4 million by issuing new shares in its IPO last year.

In 2007, Abu Dhabi state investment firm Mubadala bought a 7.5 percent stake in Carlyle for $1.35 billion. CalPERS, the California pension fund for public employees and one of private equity's largest investors, took a 5.5 percent stake in 2000.

Bloomberg News first reported on Carlyle's valuation expectations.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; editing by Gary Hill and Andre Grenon)

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