* Owner sells 40 pct stake in IPO including over-allotment
* CEO eyes expansion outside domestic market
* IPO valuation puts Gjensidige below peers' book value
(Adds CEO, quotes, background)
By Victoria Klesty and Kylie MacLellan
OSLO/LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The owner of Norway's Gjensidige is to raise up to 11.8 billion crowns ($2 billion) from the sale of a 40 percent stake in the insurer, Norway's largest flotation in nearly a decade.
It is the second large Scandinavian offering in as many days to defy the recent market turbulence that has knocked several euro zone IPOs off track, after the private equity owners of Denmark's TDC raised up to $3.7 billion on Thursday through a share buyback and public offering.
"There were around seven (European) IPOs running about 10 days ago, five got withdrawn or postponed ... which made it quite a tricky backdrop," said a source close to the deal.
Mutually owned Gjensidige priced its shares at 59 Norwegian crowns, the mid-point of its narrowed 58 to 60 crown guidance range. In total it would be selling just under 200 million shares if a 10 percent over-allotment option is exercised.
The over-allotment would take the size of the offer to 11.8 million crowns, from a base deal of 10.7 billion.
Investors were attracted by the relatively high dividend yield of the two offers, those involved said, with TDC yielding 8.5 percent at its offer price, and Gjensidige yielding 6.3 percent.
As well as domestic demand, good interest came from the United States, a second source close to the deal said, with investors drawn by the stability of the Scandinavian region at a time when the euro zone is beset by sovereign debt worries.
FURTHER CONSOLIDATION
Gjensidige Chief Executive Helge Leiro Baastad told Reuters the company aims to grow its business outside Norway and also expects further consolidation in the local insurance market.
The company, which has a strong position on its home market, has a share of just 1.2 percent in Sweden and 6.2 percent in Denmark. It estimates its overall share of the Baltic market is just above 9 percent.
"We know there are synergies across the borders," he said, adding Gjensidige's expansion into Denmark had proven that point to investors.
The Gjensidige Foundation, which owned the company ahead of the IPO, has said it will hold most of the proceeds from the sale as a "war chest" to use in any future share issues by the company, so it can retain the size of its holding.
Gjensidige's shares traded up slightly at 59.25 crowns by 1131 GMT, having earlier dipped below the listing price -- a move several analysts was likely down to Norwegian retail investors, who bought 28 percent of the shares on offer, flipping IPO shares they purchased at a discount.
The Gjensidige IPO, the largest in Norway since Statoil's in 2001 and the last big European flotation this year, values the company at 29.5 billion crowns.
Gjensidige's equity had a book value of 22.06 billion crowns at the end of the third quarter. The IPO values it at 1.33 times this amount, a Reuters calculation showed.
Finnish insurer Sampo trades at 1.48 times its third-quarter book value, while Denmark's Tryg trades at close to 1.65 times book value.
Some see the Gjensidige IPO as a way for the company to pursue mergers and acquisitions, perhaps including a tie-up with Norway's Storebrand. Gjensidige is Storebrand's largest shareholder, with a 24.3 percent stake.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs were joint bookrunners on the offer. (Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Will Waterman and David Holmes) ($1=6.048 Norwegian Crown)