Financial investor buying up to 9% of Italian asset manager Anima

By Valentina Za

MILAN (Reuters) -A financial investor not previously a shareholder in Anima Holding has tasked Mediobanca with buying a stake of up to 9% in the Italian asset manager, the investment bank said on Tuesday.

An investor document seen by Reuters showed Mediobanca, which did not name the investor, was buying Anima shares through an accelerated reverse bookbuilding at 4.35 euros a share.

That represents a premium of 7.5% to Tuesday's closing price of 4.046 euros per share.

The stakebuilding comes a week before a deadline for the submission of lists of candidates for the renewal of Anima's board of directors. Based on the company's by-laws, a 9% stake gives an investor a seat on the board.

Mediobanca, acting as sole bookrunner, said the minimum size of the deal was a stake of 7%.

According to a second investor document also seen by Reuters, the minimum size has been reached and books will close at 0700 GMT on Wednesday, with details due to be released before markets open.

At the top of the targeted range, the investment would total 135.7 million euros ($145.7 million) while the minimum stake would cost the buyer 105.7 million euros, Reuters calculations showed.

The investor is Italian and is neither a bank nor an insurance firm, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Anima is Italy's biggest independent asset manager and has often been seen as a potential takeover target.

Last year, French asset manager Amundi emerged as the third-biggest investor in Anima with a 5.2% stake.

The move raised alarm in Rome where the previous government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi had regarded positively Anima's plans to remain independent, sources told Reuters at the time.

Anima's biggest shareholder is Banco BPM, Italy's No. 3 bank, followed by the Italian post office, Poste Italiane.

Mediobanca said Anima's new investor did not plan to launch a buyout offer over the next 12 months.

($1 = 0.9316 euro)

(Reporting by Valentina Za and Federico Maccioni in MilanEditing by Leslie Adler and John Stonestreet)