Italian food giant, Parmalat, is set to return to the market in September or October, almost two years after the company's collapse amid Europe's biggest accounting scandal.
Regulators last week asked for additional details on the company's return to the market, delaying its plans to refloat by the summer. But a source said today that administrators of the insolvent dairy group were expected to file a new prospectus in answer to the market regulator Consob's queries by around mid-April, with a view to a listing in the autumn.
Once the new prospectus is filed, Consob has 60 days to approve it, the source said. Parmalat can then submit the filing to its creditors to approve the flotation and a debt-for-equity swap.
The source said the new documents would be based on audited full-year 2004 accounts and not half-year figures as provided for the first version of the prospectus.
Parmalat went into administration in December 2003, engulfed by a multibillion-euro accounting fraud scandal. Its shares tumbled from about €3 in the months before the crash to become virtually worthless.