MILAN, May 22 (Reuters) - The following factors could affect
Italian markets on Friday.
Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot
vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).
FIAT (FIA.MI)
Hesse Premier Koch in Germany spoke of disappointment in
Fiat's offer for Opel, the General Motors Corp GM.N unit,
suggesting a rival bid by Canadian-Austrian car parts maker
Magna International (MGa.TO) was the preferred one.
[ID:nLM715846]
* La Repubblica speaks of rumours of a Chinese bid but does
not elaborate.
* La Repubblica also says 18,000 to 20,000 jobs are at risk
shoufl Fiat's car business merge with Opel.
Fiat submitted two versions of its offer: one for GM's Opel
and Vauxhall units and another including its Latin American
operations, Automotive News reported on Thursday. [ID:nLL547650]
The second offer would let GM keep 25 percent of Opel,
according to Il Messaggero, without citing any sources.
Fiat has picked banks Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI), Goldman
Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and UniCredit SpA (CRDI.MI) to be global
coordinators of a possible merger and subsequent spin-off and
stock market listing of the combined auto business.
[ID:nMAT009598]
UniCredit has already been working for Fiat on the Opel case
with Citigroup (C.N), Il Messaggero said.
Fiat has signed an agreement to set up a car manufacturing
venture with China's Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, the
Shanghai Securities News said on Friday, citing the Chinese
automaker's general manager. [ID:nSHA14353]
INTESA SANPAOLO (ISP.MI)
Shareholder foundations Cariplo and Compagnia San Paolo have
hired a legal firm to challenge a coordination pact set up
between peers Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and Assicurazioni
Generali (GASI.MI), Ansa news agency reported on Thursday.
Cariplo has 4.6 percent of Intesa Sanpaolo and Compagnia San
Paolo is the biggest shareholder at 9.9 percent.
* But Cariplo Chairman Giuseppe Guzzetti was quoted by Il Sole
24 Ore as saying neither he not the foundation had yet hired a
legal firm.
TELECOM ITALIA (TLIT.MI)
Marco Fossati, a shareholder with a 5 percent stake, is
quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera and Il Sole 24 Ore that
the operator needs a long-term industrial plan; he still
proposes a merger with Telefonica (TEF.MC), it says.
* Telefonica Chairman Cesar Alierta has called for a meeting
next week to prepare for the eventual expiry of a shareholder
pact in which the Spanish telecommunications operator shares a
controlling stake in Telecom Italia, Il Messaggero said;
although he does not favour a merger with Telecom Italia, he
does want to develop some sort of partnership with it, it said.
* BARCLAYS (BARC.L)
The British bank is interested in buying branches in Italy
but at the right price, Frits Seegers, head of retail and
commercial banking, told Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview; it aims
to open 130-160 branches in Italy by the end of the year, he
said; it also aims to be among the top 10 Italian banks in the
next four years, pointing on retail and commercial banking and
credit cards, he added.
DAVIDE CAMPARI (CPRI.MI)
JP Morgan raises Campari to "neutral" from "underweight".
CARLO TASSARA
The holding company of financier Romain Zaleski has signed a
debt restructuring agreement with its creditors that runs to
2011, longer than previously expected, Corriere della Sera said;
Tassara owns stakes in a number of Italian companies.
SMALL- AND MID-CAPS
* SAFILO (SFLG.MI)
According to MF, private equity funds Bain Capital and Pai
are still considering a bid for the eyewear maker.
SOCOTHERM (SCTM.MI)
The oil industry engineering company posted a first-quarter
loss of 1.28 million euros versus a profit of 6.2 million euros
in the same period last year. But it said the figures were not
comparable because of a difference in accounting for
consolidation.
Net revenues fell to 55.9 million euros from 84.5 million
euros.
Cost reductions under a business plan will start to be felt
in the second half of the year, it said in a statement.
ERGYCAPITAL (ECY.MI)
The Italian investment company specialising in solar power
is confident margins will remain attractive even after industry
incentives fall, Chief Executive Luca D'Agnese told Reuters in
an interview [ID:nL552890]
For Italian market data and news, click on codes in
brackets:
20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI
20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI
Mibtel index.......... .MIBTEL
S&P/Mib index......... .SPMIB
Indice Mib-30......... .MIB30
Midex index........... .MIDEX
Allstars index........ .ALLST
Block trades.......... .BLK.MI
Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN
For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in
brackets:
European Equities speed guide...................<EUR/EQUITY>
FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3
DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX
Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS
Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES
Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S
Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR
Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR
Main stock markets:
Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report .....[.N]
Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report............[.T]
FTSE 100................FTSE London report...........[.L]
Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories[.F]
CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories...[.PA]
World Indices.....................................<0#.INDEX>
Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1
Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO
European Asset Allocation........................[EUR/ASSET]
Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............[TOP/EQE]
Main currency report:...............................[FRX/]
