UPDATE: EDF CEO, Italy Industry Minister Met Over Edison-Source

French state-controlled power giant Electricite de France SA's (EDF.FR) Chairman and Chief Executive Henri Proglio met Thursday morning in Rome with Italy's Industry Minister Corrado Passera over the fate of Italian power utility Edison SpA (EDN.MI), which is 50% owned by EDF, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The two discussed the future of Edison after a meeting of the board of the Italian utility Wednesday failed to solve a crisis over its ownership, the person told Dow Jones Newswires.

Asked about details of the conversation, the person declined to elaborate.

Italian shareholders in Edison Wednesday made an offer to EDF to split the company. The proposal would swap investment vehicle Delmi's 30% stake in Edison, Italy's second largest utility, in exchange for Edipower, a company that owns nine power plants with 6,000-megawatts generating capacity.

EDF says that Edison needs EUR1.3 billion in fresh capital, but Italian shareholders disagree.

Edison's board will meet again Dec.29.

EDF and Edison's Italian shareholders reached an agreement in October to split up the company and to grant EDF full control, with EDF offering to buy out investment vehicle Delmi from Edison, at a price based on the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, multiple of a sample of comparable listed companies.

The French power giant would then own 80% directly and indirectly in Edison from 50% currently.

EDF had reached a previous agreement with A2A that would have allowed the French utility to take control of Edison and let A2A acquire some hydroelectric assets. But the agreement was botched by the Italian government, forcing them to renew talks to find another solution.

Edison is 61.3% held by Italian company Transalpina di Energia, which is 50% held by EDF with the rest owned by Delmi. EDF also has a direct stake of 19.3% in Edison. Delmi is held by Italian utility A2A SpA (A2A.MI).

At 1240 GMT, shares in EDF were up 0.8% to EUR18.16 while the CAC-40 benchmark index was up 1.5%.

-By Geraldine Amiel, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40171767; geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com

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