Austrian packaging group Constantia Flexibles has hired banks for an initial public offering that could take place this year, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
The company, majority owned by JP Morgan's One Equity Partners, declined to comment on media reports that an IPO could take place as early as October and value the company at as much as 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion).
One Equity Partners, which owns 75 percent of Constantia Flexibles, also declined to comment.
The banks are JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, three sources said, following reports by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
Three sources with knowledge of the situation said October was probably too early for an IPO but said it could happen after third-quarter results, or more likely next year.
Separately, two sources said the equity value of the company was about 1.5 billion euros. One said 30 to 50 percent of the company could be floated.
Constantia Flexibles makes packaging for the food and drugs sectors among others, and says it is the number two in Europe and number four in the world behind Australia's Amcor, and U.S. groups Bemis and Sealed Air Corp.
The Vienna Stock Exchange has hosted just one market debut since the financial crisis, the 411 million-euro IPO of metals group AMAG in April 2011.
