PPR interested in Bulgari if for sale-report

PARIS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - French retailer PPR (PRTP.PA) would be interested in acquiring Italian jeweller Bulgari (BULG.MI) if it were up for sale, Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault said in a magazine interview published on Thursday. Asked by French weekly magazine Paris Match in which luxury sector PPR could invest, Pinault said: "Why not in jewellery, which is witnessing a formidable expansion, and where we only have Boucheron for the moment. Bulgari for example, is not for sale."

"In the opposite case (if it was for sale), we would surely have looked at it."

Bulgari said in July that it was looking for a big acquisition, which analysts took as another sign that its controlling family did not want to sell the company -- a position stated last year by Chief Executive Francesco Trapani.

Bulgari, the world's third largest jeweller, has annual revenue of over 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) and a market capitalisation of about 3 billion euros.

((Reporting by Marie Maitre, editing by Greg Mahlich; Reuters Messaging: marie.maitre.reuters.com@reuters.net e-mail: marie.maitre@reuters.com telephone: +33 1 4949 5331))

($1=.7357 Euro) Keywords: PPR BULGARI/

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