UPDATE 1-Parmalat eyes Goodman Fielder dairy unit -report

MILAN, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Italian food group Parmalat SpA is studying a bid for the dairy unit of Australia's Goodman Fielder Ltd, la Repubblica reported on Saturday. Parmalat, Italy's biggest listed food group, is looking at an offer through investment bank Mediobanca SpA, the daily said. It cited no sources for the story. Australia is Parmalat's third largest market and Goodman Fielder is the country's biggest food company by market value. Parmalat Chief Executive Enrico Bondi wants to bulk up his company to shore up margins, la Repubblica said. A Parmalat spokesman said he had no comment. The Italian company lost out to Japan's Kirin Holdings Co Ltd last August in a bid for rival Australian producer Dairy Farmers. Parmalat in recent months also may have restarted efforts to buy Italian dairy producer Granarolo, la Repubblica said, citing some sources. The talks could go ahead in step with the creation of a stable shareholder group for Parmalat. Bank Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, for example, is already a shareholder in Granarolo "and in recent weeks talks have been spoken of" with Libyan funds, it said. (Reporting by Ian Simpson, editing by Anthony Barker) Keywords: GOODMANFIELDER PARMALAT ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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