Italian private equity fund FSI fund raised Anima stake to 9%

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian private equity fund Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI) held 9% of Anima Holding as of Feb. 17, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday, after beefing up an initial holding of just over 7% it built last week.

FSI hired Mediobanca to buy shares in Anima though a reverse accelerated bookbuilding process, with a target of owning between 7% and 9% of Italy's largest independent asset manager, which manages some 180 billion euros ($192 billion) in assets.

Offering a premium of just 7.5% over the latest closing price, FSI reached only slightly more than its minimum target in the reverse ABB transaction.

The filing showed FSI had then bought a further 1.7% stake on the market.

Led by former Merrill Lynch banker Maurizio Tamagnini, FSI has not disclosed the reasons behind its investment in Anima.

The group distributes its products through partnerships with commercial banks including Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena and could be involved in the sector's consolidation process.

($1 = 0.9376 euros)

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)