Saint-Gobain is planning to retain a stake in the business, which is the second-biggest glass manufacturer in the world after O-I and which it rebranded last May in a bid to raise its profile. It is estimated that the IPO would value Verallia at more than €4bn.

The business was originally put up for sale in 2007, but a sale was delayed until the recession had ended. When the initial IPO plans were announced last October, Saint-Gobain said in a statement: “After three difficult years, the general business environment in 2011 is more likely to ensure that the packaging sector will be valued at a price that reflects its true worth.”

However, questions have been raised over the IPO plans. Sven Edelfelt, a Paris-based Aurel-BGC analyst, told Bloomberg: “Listing the unit isn’t a completely satisfactory solution because they will have to offer a discount of 10 percent to 15 percent.”

Saint-Gobain’s company spokeswoman Sophie Chevallon told Bloomberg that a listing of Verallia could go ahead from the second quarter, “market conditions permitting”. She declined to comment on potential suitors.

The news service also claimed that Ardagh Glass had held talks with Saint-Gobain to purchase Verallia about a year ago. However, Ardagh went on to purchase metals group Impress last September.