Private equity-backed pipeline company Kinder Morgan is expected to file terms for its initial public offering before U.S. markets open on Thursday, a source familiar with the situation said.

The company is expected to file to sell shares for $26 to $29 each, and price the IPO on February 10, the source said.

In a regulatory filing dated January 28, Kinder Morgan said it would not sell any shares in the IPO but selling shareholders would sell 80 million shares.

The source said it was not immediately clear whether the details on the number of shares to be sold were still accurate.

The source cautioned that the information is preliminary and subject to change. The source declined to be named because the information is not public.

Kinder Morgan, which was taken private in a $14.6 billion buyout in 2007, is among a handful of large private equity-backed companies to move ahead with U.S. IPOs this year.

Measurement company Nielsen Holdings went public at the end of January.

Hospital operator HCA is planning an IPO in early March, and retailer Toys R Us has also filed to go public.

Private equity firms are eager to begin the process of exiting portfolio companies bought at the height of the buyout boom of 2005 to 2007.

Kinder Morgan Chief Executive Officer Richard Kinder in 2007 led a group of investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc's buyout fund, Carlyle and Riverstone Holdings in taking Kinder Morgan private.

Kinder previously served as president of energy company Enron Corp but left in 1996 -- years before it became embroiled in scandal and declared bankruptcy.

Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital are leading the underwriters on the Kinder Morgan offering. The shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KMI.

Kinder Morgan previously filed to raise up to $1.5 billion in its IPO.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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