UniCredit to Raise EU5 Billion, Sell Assets, Repubblica Reports

By Steve Scherer

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- UniCredit SpA, Italy's biggest lender, will raise 5 billion euros ($6.9 billion) by issuing its dividend in shares and selling convertible bonds, la Repubblica reported, without saying where it got the information.

UniCredit's board is meeting today in Milan to discuss the plan, under which it would hold onto more than 3 billion euros in cash by issuing the 2008 dividend in stock, the newspaper said. It will sell 2 billion euros of long-term bonds that can be traded in for shares, la Repubblica reported.

The Italian bank will also raise money by selling assets, according to la Repubblica. The sale of its 3.5 percent holding in highway toll operator Atlantia SpA will bring in 300 million euros, while shedding its 4.6 percent stake in Assicurazioni Generali SpA will raise as much as 1.5 billion euros, the newspaper said.

UniCredit will have to call an extraordinary shareholders' meeting by year-end to approve the measures, Repubblica said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Scherer in Rome at scherer@bloomberg.net