Ferretti was delisted in 2003 before being bought a decade later by Weichai Group. The Chinese group has a stake of nearly 87 percent while Piero Ferrari, the son of the founder of the sports car maker with the same name, holds a minority stake.

The group has picked Barclays, BNP Paribas and UBS as global coordinators for the IPO. It will hold a detailed presentation of the company's business for analysts of the banks forming the IPO consortium in the next few weeks as it prepares to launch the share sale, the source said.

According to the source, the group is hoping to fetch multiples similar to those of luxury car makers Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Ferretti declined to comment.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, editing by Silvia Aloisi)