* Sale organised by Citi, process to start in March -sources
* Deal may value Gas Connect at up to 750 mln eur-sources
* Interest from Allianz, Borealis, EPH, Fluxys, First State (Adds context, valuation)
By Christoph Steitz, Freya Berry and Arno Schuetze
FRANKFURT/LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Gas Connect Austria, the pipeline unit of Austrian energy group OMV OMVV.VI , has drawn interest from several parties ahead of an auction that could value the asset at up to 750 million euros ($845 million), three people familiar with the deal said.
Parties expected to participate in the auction include a consortium of German insurer Allianz ALVG.DE and Borealis Infrastructure, which is part of Canadian pension fund OMERS.
Both groups had previously teamed up in 2013 to acquire Net4Gas, the Czech gas pipeline operator previously owned by German utility RWE RWEG.DE .
The sales process, which the sources said was organised by Citi C.N , is expected to start in March and comes after OMV in October said interest for the up to 49 percent stake in the unit was "strong", adding it expected a deal this year. sale, which could value the asset at 500 million to 750 million euros, including debt, further highlights the strong interest in regulated energy networks across Europe, as institutional investors look for safe opportunities to invest.
Gas Connect Austria is also expected to fetch interest from Belgium's Fluxys FLUX.BR , Czech-Slovak energy group EPH as well as First State Investments, the asset management arm of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) CBA.AX , the people said.
Allianz, Citi and Borealis declined to comment. EPH, First State and Fluxys were not immediately available for comment.
Sources had told Reuters in late January that Italian gas group Snam SRG.MI was working with UniCredit CRDI.MI to look into whether buying the stake in Gas Connect Austria, which operates about 900 kilometres of gas networks, made sense. = 0.8877 euros) (Editing by Maria Sheahan)