Italy - Factors to watch on Sept 24

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

FIAT

Italy's Fiat and the Italian government said on Saturday they will look for ways to improve the company's manufacturing efficiency, as the automaker pledged to keep building cars in Italy while shifting its focus to foreign export markets.

Chrysler Group LLC and the Canadian Auto Workers had constructive talks on a new contract on Friday, the head of the union said, but remained apart with the automaker complaining the union's template deal was too expensive.

*FIAT

La Repubblica reported Monday without citing sources that the automaker will not update the market on its plans for Italian factories when it approves its third-quarter results on October 30. For an update on Italian factory investments, "everything is on hold until 2014," the paper said. The company has no comment.

TOD'S

The luxury goods maker is seen reaching 2012 sales of nearly 1 billion euros, according to an article in La Repubblica's Monday business supplement. It's EBITDA margin as compared to sales should exceed 26 percent in 2012. The company's growth trend is seen continuing in the medium term, the article said.

FINMECCANICA

Italian magistrates have put Finmeccanica under investigation in connection with a probe into alleged corruption to win a helicopter deal in India, the company said on Friday.

Deutsche Bank and Banca IMI have been appointed as advisors for the sale of Finmeccanica's energy unit Ansaldo Energia, Il Messaggero said on Saturday. Siemens is in pole position but other interested companies are General Electric , U.S. Honeywell and Japan's Mitsubishi, it said.

Mediobanca is advisor for the sale of Ansaldo STS with interest shown by Siemens, General Electrric and U.S.'s Mailway, Messaggero said.

ENI

Eni is to convert an unprofitable oil refinery near Venice into a production plant for biofuels from 2014 at an estimated cost of 100 million euros.

* BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA

The bank is close to an agreement with the EU on the bonds it will sell to the state to beef up its capital base, Il Messaggero said on Saturday citing EU competition head Joaquin Almunia. "I assured Italian economy minister Grilli we will continue to discuss... and I also said we will find a solution," he was reported as saying.

The bank's chairman Alessandro Profumo said in a newspaper interview on Monday that a European banking union was "fundamental" for the bank's recovery, since it would create a European market for banking liquidity and make it easier to manage assets.

FONDIARIA-SAI, UNIPOL

France's AXA is preparing a bid for portfolio assets that Italian insurers Unipol and Fondiaria-SAI will have to sell to secure regulatory clearance for their planned merger, newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore said on Sunday.

CAMFIN, PIRELLI

The convertible bond Camfin is mulling will be for 170 million euro, Il Messaggero said on Saturday. The bond, that can be converted into Pirelli shares, could be launched on Oct. 8, it said, adding it will be placed by Banca IMI, UniCredit and BNP Paribas.

TELECOM ITALIA MEDIA

The 3 probable leading contenders for TI Media are Cairo Communications, 3 Italia and Germany's Rtl with U.S. group Discovery Channel an outsider, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday. Informal bids are due on Monday.