Pirelli studies Pirelli RE, Fimit merger

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian conglomerate Pirelli & C SpA (PECI.MI), its unit Pirelli & C Real Estate SpA PCRI.MI, and real estate company Fimit have launched a joint study on merging Pirelli RE and Fimit, they said on Wednesday.

The study will look at the feasibility of merging the industrial operations of Pirelli RE with Fimit to create a new player in the real estate asset management and services sector, the companies said in a statement.

"The study that will take place in the next weeks will have the aim of potential operating synergies that could be derived from the operation, its structure and the valuation criteria for the respective activities," they said.

"The possible operation would have to be coherent with the business plan of the Pirelli group."

Pirelli's business plan announced earlier this year aims to focus on the group's tire operations and analysts have speculated that these tyre operations could be spun-off from the real estate and other Pirelli units.

Pirelli RE is 56 percent-owned by the Pirelli parent.

Fimit is owned by Italian pension funds and manages 4.1 billion euros of assets for 55,000 retail investors and 15 institutions, according to website.

Pirelli shares closed 0.76 percent higher at 0.40 euros, while Pirelli RE was up 1.36 percent at 0.56 euros.

(Writing by Nigel Tutt; editing by Andre Grenon)