Reuters reported in August that the private equity house was working with advisers at Rothschild & Co to prepare the initial public offering (IPO), which could happen as early as next year.

The IPO could value Douglas at up to 7 billion euros ($7.68 billion), people close to the matter said at the time.

Douglas declined to comment.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Chris Reese)