Bollore to take part in Pininfarina capital hike

PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - French financier Vincent Bollore, who has teamed up with Pininfarina (PNNI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to build an electric car, said on Thursday he would take part in the capital increase of the Italian car maker and designer.

"We will take part in the capital increase," Bollore told a news conference without giving more details, adding that more would be given in the days to come.

As part of a restructuring to revive its flagging business, Pininfarina has said it plans to raise 100 million euros through a capital increase by the middle of the year.

Pininfarina's founding family has a 55 percent stake but the company has said it is prepared to reduce this to allow Bollore and other investors to come in.

Although famous for its work for Ferrari (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other sports car makers, Pininfarina is lossmaking.

Like Germany's Karmann and other car designers and contract manufacturers, it is suffering from a trend among big car makers to develop models by themselves rather than seek outside help.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)