By Dasha Afanasieva and Arno Schuetze
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - SIG (LON:SHI) Combibloc is on track to announce in September its intention to float on the stock market in Zurich, three sources familiar with the matter said, in a listing that could value the Swiss packaging maker at close to 5 billion euros (£4.46 billion).
Goldman Sachs (N:GS), Credit Suisse (S:CSGN) and Bank of America (N:BAC) are global coordinators for the listing. The sources said Morgan Stanley (N:MS), Citi (N:C) and Barclays (L:BARC) are bookrunners on the deal.
SIG Combibloc's private equity owner Onex did not respond to a request for comment. Morgan Stanley, Citi and Barclays declined to comment.
Typically companies join the market around two weeks after publishing a notice of their intention to float.
Finance industry sources said they expected a flurry of new listings in September in Europe, where proceeds from initial public offerings (IPO) of European firms rose 35 percent in the first half of the year to almost $30 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
But while more IPOs are expected, a high proportion of listings being shelved has put bankers on edge.
For example, two HNA-backed Swiss companies - ground services and cargo handling unit Swissport Group and airline caterer Gategroup - have cancelled flotation plans. More recently the London IPO of education company GEMS was shelved.
SIG makes cartons for food and drinks and competes with larger rival Tetra Pak, part of Tetra Laval. One of the sources said the company told bond holders recently that its last 12-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were around 480 million euros.
With peers such as Berry (N:BERY), Ball (N:BLL), Silgan (O:SLGN), Bemis (N:BMS) or Polyone (N:POL) trading at around 9 to 11 times EBITDA, according to Thomson Reuters data, the company could be valued at close to 5 billion euros.
The company, which employs than 5,000 people at about 40 locations around the world, was previously listed in Switzerland as part of the Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) conglomerate that made everything from juice cartons to passenger trains and weapons. Its businesses were gradually sold off as the company trimmed its focus to packaging.