Ardagh Group, the Irish packaging group founded by Paul Coulson, is planning to float part of the business on the New York Stock Exchange early next year.

It hopes floating 5% of shares in its operating company will raise up to €270 million on Wall Street, which would put the value of Ardagh at €4.5 billion.

If the flotation goes ahead, parent company Ardagh Packaging Holdings will retain 95% of the operating business

Shareholders were also told yesterday that Ardagh is borrowing $1.565 billion (€1.39bn) through a bond issue to refinance short-term debt and return €270m to them. the senior bond debt is due to be repaid in 2023.

It is aiming to take advantage of the current low interest rates to replace expensive short-term debt with cheaper, longer-term loans with "more attractive terms".

Ardagh intends to file applications with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to have both the bond isse and its shares listed on the market.

According to the Irish Times, Ardagh enjoys an annual revenue of €7.8bn making bottles and cans for the multinational likes of Coca-Cola, Heineken, L'Oreal and John West.