Pirelli investor Camfin boosts stake as Chinese fund offloads 9%

MILAN (Reuters) -Camfin, the second-largest investor in Pirelli, has increased its stake to 22.8% as China's Silk Road Fund sold its 9% interest in the Italian premium tyre maker.

Camfin, the vehicle of Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera, said on Thursday it bought a 2.2% stake, strengthening its role as a stable shareholder and reiterating its commitment to supporting the group's industrial projects.

Tronchetti Provera, who has led the tyre maker since 1992, is now the executive vice chairman.

Chinese state-owned conglomerate Sinochem Group remains Pirelli's largest shareholder with a 37% stake.

The share sale, through an accelerated book building (ABB) procedure, by Silk Road Fund comes after the Italian government intervened last year to limit Sinochem's influence over Pirelli.

Rome used its so-called "golden power" legislation that protects key national assets to modify an amended governance agreement between the two top shareholders, curbing Sinochem's grip on the tyre maker and reiterating Camfin's strategic lead.

Silk Road Fund on Thursday completed the sale of its 90.2 million Pirelli shares at 5.76 euros each, valuing the entire stake at around 520 million euros ($562 million), a bookrunner said.

The final selling price slightly topped the 5.69 euro guidance set on Wednesday, when the sale process was launched.

Milan-listed Pirelli's shares were down 5% at 5.88 euros at opening.

On Wednesday, before the sale deal was announced, the shares closed at 6.19 euros, giving the company a market capitalisation of around 6.2 billion euros.

An ABB is a form of offering where banks act as bookrunners and in which shares are offered during a small time window, generally lasting between 24 hours to 48 hours.

($1 = 0.9261 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Josie Kao and Sriraj Kalluvila)