Ferretti, the luxury Italian yachtmaker, has hired Merrill Lynch and Mediobanca to work on its return to public markets via a flotation on the Milan stock exchange valuing it as high as €3bn ($5bn).

Candover, the private equity firm that bought Ferretti for €1.7bn in October 2007, is braving the turmoil in financial markets to capitalise on booming sales of the company's pleasure craft, which can cost as much as €50m.