Italy court to publish ruling on Banco BPM's bid freezing appeal in 1-2 days

ROME (Reuters) -An Italian court on Tuesday gathered to discuss an appeal by takeover target Banco BPM against a regulatory suspension of the bid launched in April by suitor UniCredit.

The decision is expected to be taken in the coming hours, but it will be made public in one or two days, a court official told Reuters.

Italy's markets regulator has granted UniCredit a one-month suspension of the offer for BPM, which is now due to end on July 23, instead of June 23, after the government imposed a set of conditions to clear it which UniCredit says cannot be met.

UniCredit has challenged the conditions in court and a hearing is scheduled on July 9. It is also engaged in discussions with government officials in charge of 'golden powers' which allow Italy to vet deals in the banking sector on grounds of national security.

(Reporting by Paolo Chiriatti; Writing by Valentina Za; editing by Cristina Carlevaro)