Italy's stake sale of Monte dei Paschi under EU scrutiny, FT reports

(Reuters) -The European Commission is examining the Italian government's sale of a 15% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena last year, following claims that large investors were shut out of the bidding process, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Reuters reported last week that prosecutors in Milan were also looking into the sale of a stake in the bank to a small group of investors, without providing details on what part of the process was being probed.

Italy's economy ministry sold the stake via an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB) procedure to Banco BPM, fund manager Anima Holding, construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the holding company of late Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio. Banca Akros was the broker that handled the sale process.

The European Commission is looking into the details of the stake sale, following complaints, to examine whether the process was a fair and open market transaction, the FT reported, citing two people briefed on the details.

The preliminary assessment could lead to the opening of a state aid investigation, but no decision had been taken yet, the report added.

UniCredit, Norway's oil fund and BlackRock were among the investors that were interested in buying shares in the bank, but were told that the bidding had been already closed by Banca Akros, the FT reported.

Banca Akros said in a statement last week that in its role as global coordinator and bookrunner, it "conducted the process correctly and transparently," fully complying with applicable regulations and practices.

The European Commission and Monte dei Paschi di Siena did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours. Banca Akros could not be reached for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Anil D'Silva)