Australia's Brambles Ltd , the world's top pallet supplier, on Wednesday announced a further delay to the sale of its Recall information management business, which it values at around $2 billion.

Brambles has held discussions with document destruction company Shred-it and Ohio-based Cintas Corp about selling its U.S. information management business, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Negotiations are dragging out as investors shy away from Brambles $2 billion-plus expectations, the sources told Reuters last week.

When it announced the sale last August, part of a series deals to offload non-core assets, Brambles said it expected to finalise a sale by end-March..

In March, Brambles said reaching an outcome on the proposed sale would take one to two months longer than expected, with that time frame extended again on Wednesday.

Brambles said an announcement would be made as soon as negotiations conclude.

Several private equity firms including Apollo Global Management, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Onex Corp had considered buying Recall earlier this year, but their interest cooled due to a substantial valuation gap, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Brambles would use the proceeds from a Recall divestment to reduce debt. The company has announced a $550 million capital investment plan for its pallet operations in 2012-2013.

Recall is the latest Brambles business to be put on the block. As it scaled back its presence as a global conglomerate, the company also sold its waste management, material handling and other assets over the past five years to focus on its core business - pallet and container pooling services.

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