Parmalat creditors are likely to approve a plan to swap billions of euros of debt into equity in voting today.
That would pave the way for the dairy group's return to the stock market, as a streamlined Parmalat prepares to emerge from almost two years of bankruptcy administration, controlled by its former bondholders and coveted by several potential buyers.
Future shareholders - including creditor banks that worked with Parmalat's discredited previous management - are already jockeying for position on the group's new board.
"The vote is a foregone conclusion, given the clause allowing abstentions to be counted as approvals. It is irrelevant," said Umberto Mosetti, a representative of investor rights group Deminor. "It's all about what comes next."
Parmalat crumbled in 2003 in Italy's biggest corporate scandal under the weight of billions of euros of debt, leaving investors with nearly worthless paper.
After swapping €12 billion worth of debt into shares, bondholders will hold over 50 per cent of the new Parmalat.
Many question whether the diverse group - from small investors to hedge funds who bought the debt at a discount and investment banks - will be able to work together, however.