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Generali wants good price for BSI sale: CEO

Mario Greco, Group CEO of Generali, speaks during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos January 24, 2013. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Mario Greco, Group CEO of Generali, speaks during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos January 24, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Denis Balibouse

MILAN | Thu Aug 1, 2013 4:19am EDT

MILAN (Reuters) - Insurer Generali (GASI.MI) is still looking to sell its Swiss private banking business BSI but is determined not to let it go cheap, Chief Executive Mario Greco said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Greco declined to give an update on the sale after reports it had stalled.

"We want to sell non-core assets at the right price and at the right conditions, and this is complicated, takes time, requires negotiating, and this is what we are continuing to do," Greco said in a conference call.

"BSI is a good asset and has a good value. It's a complicated market at the moment for that type of asset. We want it to command a good price and we are very careful about obtaining a good value."

Portugal's second-largest listed bank, BES (BES.LS), said last month it was analyzing the possible acquisition of BSI, adding this could take a couple of months.

Spain's Bankinter (BKT.MC) - seen as another potential buyer - said it was not interested in a Swiss banking purchase.

Sources told Reuters in May BSI, which they said Generali has been trying to sell for more than two years, had attracted bids below its estimated 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) book value.

Greco, appointed at the helm of Europe's third largest insurer a year ago, has pushed through an extensive clean-up of Generali's balance sheet and is seeking 4 billion euros from the sale of non-core businesses to boost capital. He said on Thursday more than 50 percent of that target had been achieved.

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and Andrea Mandala; Editing by David Holmes)

 
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