REFILE-UPDATE 1-EDF sets UK sale, consortia forming - sources

(Refiles to correct the dateline)

* Sale expected to start in December-sources

* Assets being preleveraged, primed for sale-sources (Adds further details)

By Greg Roumeliotis and Alex Chambers

AMSTERDAM/LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - French utility EDF (EDF.PA) has set an indicative timetable in its sale of Britain's biggest electricity distribution network as industry and financial parties begin to form consortiums, sources said.

EDF has sent out what bankers call a 'teaser' to potential bidders previewing the sale of its three distributor network operators (DNOs), whose regulated asset value (RAV) now stands at close to 4 billion pounds, several sources familiar with the process said.

The company has privately communicated a draft timeline that calls for the sale to be launched in early December, after British regulator Ofgem determines the allowed returns of the DNOs, three of the sources said.

EDF then plans to seek first-round bids around the middle of January with binding bids due by the end of the first quarter of 2010, two of the sources said.