August 19 - Hong Kong-listed Esprit Holdings Ltd is considering the sale of its U.S. and Canadian clothing retail operations, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Esprit is headquartered in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and Ratingen (near Düsseldorf), Germany.

Esprit has hired Rothschild to advise about the sale and the asset could be shown to private equity funds, the report added.

Esprit's North American sales grew 11 percent to HK$657 million ($84 million) in the first-half ended December, the report said, adding that the company had more than 90 stores in that region.

A Hong Kong-based spokesman for Esprit declined comment.

Esprit shares were down 4.2 percent at HK$20.40 in early trade, outpacing a 2.8 percent fall in the benchmark Hong Kong share index.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas and Donny Kwok; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)