Italy's Carige Also Interested In Monte Branches

Italian regional bank Banca Carige SpA (CRG.MI) has become the latest to show interest in the branches being sold by peer Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS.MI), a local newspaper reported Saturday.

Carige, which is preparing a roadshow to promote the issue of a covered bond, has made an expression of interest for about 30 of the 135 branches on sale, Il Messaggero said, without citing its sources.

Carige joins Britain's Barclays PLC (BARC.LN, BCS), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.XE, DB) of Germany and Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) among those looking at buying the branches, it said.

On Friday, Monte Paschi executive Antonio Vigni told reporters at a conference that the bank had received several offers for the branches, but he declined to identify them.

Vigni said he expected the bank to sell all of the brances by mid-December, the deadline set by the country's antitrust authorities in exchange for approving the bank's purchase of Banca Antonveneta, an Italian bank.

A person familiar with the situation confirmed to Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday Barclays' interest in the branches but said the bank had yet to agree with Monte Paschi on the price.

Monte Paschi has already sold 15 branches.

-Gilles Castonguay, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 02 5821-9908; gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com