Credit Agricole Italy head says bid for Creval is 'fair' - paper

MILAN (Reuters) - A cash takeover offer announced by the Italian arm of Credit Agricole for rival Creval is "fair" and there would be no reason to change it, the head of Credit Agricole Italia said in a newspaper interview on Monday.

France's Credit Agricole this month offered 10.50 euro ($12.57) a share to buy the third-tier Italian lender, for an overall investment of 737 million euros. Creval has said the offer was "unexpected and not previously agreed" and sources have said it will fight it to get a better price.

Giampiero Maioli told Il Corriere della Sera's L'Economia that Credit Agricole's bid took fully into account Creval's turnaround and offered one the highest premiums in the industry.

"It's a fair offer, why should we change it?," he said when asked if there could be room to raise the price.

"This is the only all-cash bid in Italy for the past 20 years ... We consider it friendly because it generates value for everyone: shareholders, customers and employees"," he added.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Valentina Za)