Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is in talks to buy U.S. packaging maker Pactiv Corp in a leveraged deal, according to media reports.

Pactiv, which makes Hefty bags, has about $1.5 billion in debt and the Apollo deal would be among the largest leveraged buyouts in the past two years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper said any deal is a few weeks away and faces several hurdles.

Apollo could not be immediately reached for comment. Pactiv declined to comment.

Pactiv shares fell 0.6 percent to $23.97 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, valuing the company at $3.2 billion, according to Reuters data.

In April, Pactiv said its first-quarter profit fell 38 percent due to sluggish demand and high raw material costs and the company also trimmed its full-year forecast.

Demand for Pactiv's products waned during the recession as consumers ate out less but there has been some improvement in recent months.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Ernest Scheyder in New York; Editing by Anshuman Daga, Dave Zimmerman)

Investment