A preliminary takeover battle for Parmalat has already started in advance of its relisting on the Milan stock exchange, with at least two rivals hiring financial advisers and considering a bid.

Granarolo, another Italian dairy company, and Lactalis, a French company, are exploring their options on Parmalat.

The company collapsed amid a spectacular fraud at the end of 2003 but is soon to be reborn as a public company.

No bid can be made until Parmalat has relisted, which could take palce in the next few weeks.

However, both dairy companies have hired investment banks to help assess their options.

Granarolo has in the past admitted its interest in buying Parmalat.

A Granarolo deal could create competition problems as a combined company would then have more than 50 per cent of the Italian market for some milk products.

Any bid by the much smaller Granarolo would be dependent on finding substantial finance.

Both Granarolo and Lactalis are private companies with little public financial information.

Lactalis in January 2004 bought some businesses in France from Parmalat.

An Italian judge is expected within the next few days to announce that Parmalat's creditors have approved a swap of their debt for equity in the new company.

That would then pave the way for the shares to start trading soon, possibly by the end of next week.