Italy's Acegas main shareholders approve merger with Hera

MILAN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The main shareholders of Italian utility Acegas-APS have approved plans to merge with larger peer Hera, clearing the way for the creation of Italy's second-biggest regional utility.

"During the night the cities of Padua and Trieste approved the merger," the mayor of Padua Flavio Zanonato told Reuters on Tuesday. Padua and Trieste own over 60 percent of Acegas.

A merger of Hera and Acegas would create a group with combined revenues in 2011 of almost 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion).

Italy's regional utilities are seeking to expand to allow them to better compete with larger energy players and to cope with fallout from a growing sovereign debt crisis.

Hera shareholders still need to approve the merger plan.

A source close to the matter said they were expected to back the merger by October 10, noting that the main shareholders had already indicated their backing for the plan.

($1 = 0.7743 euros) (Reporting By Giancarlo Navach, additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes)