Fnac fires final $1.3 bln shot in Darty bid battle

* Fnac offers 170 pence per Darty (LSE: DRTA.L - news) share, up from 153 pence

* Steinhoff last offered 160 pence per Darty share

* Darty shares jump to six year high (Adds details, shares)

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS/JOHANNESBURG, April 25 (Reuters) - French retailer Fnac raised its offer for Darty on Monday to around 900 million pounds ($1.3 billion) in a final bid to win Europe's largest electronics goods chain in a battle with South Africa's Steinhoff.

Steinhoff, which has amassed a 20.4 percent stake in Darty, said in the immediate aftermath of Fnac's offer that it was considering its options.

Fnac, declaring the offer its last, said it would pay 170 pence per Darty share in cash, up from 153 pence previously, and that it had the backing of shareholders accounting for 40.38 percent of Darty's capital.

Steinhoff's latest offer was 160 pence a share in cash, valuing Darty at about 860 million pounds.

At 1415 GMT, Darty shares were up 8 percent at 171 pence, suggesting some investors still expect more. The stock earlier touched 173 pence, the highest since 2010.

Darty said on April 21 its board would carefully consider offers and provide further advice to shareholders in due course.

Last week, the rival bidders entered into an hectic showdown with five new offers in less than 24 hours that lifted Darty (Euronext: DRTY.NX - news) shares by more than 23 percent on April 21.

Darty shares have now more than doubled in value from about 81 pence before Fnac first approached Darty in September.

Darty earns 70 percent of its revenue in France but has 400 stores across Europe and competes with Media-Saturn, owned by Germany's Metro (Other OTC: MTRAF - news) , and Britain's Dixons.

Darty would help Fnac to reduce its reliance on declining or highly competitive markets, such as CDs and books.

Fnac's offer includes an option for Darty shareholders to receive Fnac shares if they prefer.

For Steinhoff, Darty would help it bulk up in Europe, where it makes more than two thirds of its 9.8 billion euros ($11 billion) of annual sales, as its domestic market deteriorates.

Steinhoff's European brands include Conforama in France, Bensons for Beds and Harvey's in Britain, and Abra in Poland.

Darty trade unions said on April 22 they backed Steinhoff's offer which they saw as more positive for jobs than Fnac's.

Steinhoff, which counts billionaire entrepreneur Christo Wiese as an investor and board member, is valued at 21 billion euros on Frankfurt's stock market.

Fnac has fresh firepower after Vivendi (LSE: 0IIF.L - news) , which is led by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, said it would buy 15 percent of the company, boosting its capital by 159 million euros.

($1 = 0.6909 pounds) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, additional reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng in Johannesburg; Editing by Brian Love and Mark Potter)