Diary giant Parmalat was once one of Italy's largest firms

On Thursday evening, Consob said the company could publish a listing prospectus for an Italian flotation.

The firm's administrators are expected to swap around 12 billion euros ($15.1bn; �8.3bn) of debt for shares prior to the relisting.

If creditors support this plan, the firm could be floated after the summer.

Second attempt

This could take place in September or October, Reuters reported.

Originally, administrators had hoped to relist the company in July but this was delayed by the regulator, which wanted more information on its overseas companies and legal situation.

As well as swapping debt for equity, Parmalat's administrators are hoping to recoup billions of euros from banks who did business with the firm's former management.

The Italian dairy company filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2003 after a fraud scandal unearthed a multi-billion euro hole in its accounts.

The hole - later found to be 14bn euros - was covered up for many years by false accounting.