SAO PAULO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian department store chain Lojas Havan is seeking to raise 10 billion reais ($1.83 billion) in an initial public offering, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico reported on Wednesday.

With 149 stores in 17 Brazilian states, Havan is aiming for a valuation higher than Lojas Americanas, whose market capitalization is nearly 62 billion reais, Valor said citing sources.

The proceeds of the offering would be used to open roughly 600 new stores and distribution centers, the report said.

Havan is controlled by Luciano Hang, a businessman who strongly supports far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Havan's popular stores sell a wide range of products from electronics to clothes and dishes. Havan is famous for having enormous replicas of the Statue of Liberty placed in front of each of its stores.

Havan did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the IPO. ($1 = 5.4787 reais) (Reporting by Carolina Mandl Editing by Nick Zieminski)