MILAN, Oct 6 (Reuters) - France's Amundi has madea higher than expected 4 billion euro ($4.5 billion) offer tobuy UniCredit's asset manager Pioneer, two sourcesclose to the matter said on Thursday.
Amundi is one of four bidders vying for Pioneer, alongsidean Italian consortium led by Poste Italiane,Australia's Macquarie and British group Aberdeen AssetManagement, sources have said.
One of the sources said Poste was now looking for afinancial partner to improve its own offer for Pioneer, whichhad previously been valued at around 3 billion euros.
Amundi, Europe's biggest asset manager, declined to comment.UniCredit was not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 0.8928 euros) (Reporting by Francesca Landini and Gianluca Semeraro)