MILAN, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Italian insurer Unipolhas appealed against conditions laid down by the competitionregulator to give the green light to a planned merger with peerFondiaria-SAI , two sources familiar with the situationsaid on Thursday.
The appeal to an Italian administrative court means theprocedure for the sale of assets by Unipol is suspended, one ofthe sources said.
Merging Fondiaria with Unipol would create a company with 32percent of Italy's non-life insurance market and around 37percent of its motor insurance business.
To meet competition watchdog demands, Unipol had previouslysaid it was ready to sell policies attracting 1.7 billion eurosof annual premiums.
In January Mediobanca crafted a deal for Unipol tosave the faltering Fondiaria. The merger is slated to beoperative on January 1.
(Reporting By Andrea Mandala)
((stephen.jewkes@thomsonreuters.com)(+39.0266129695)(Reuters
Messaging: stephen.jewkes.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: UNIPOL ANTITRUST/