* Govt pledges 44-bln-euro fund to support core industries
* Ruling party wants state lender to buy Milan bourse from
LSE
* Under EU rules, new equity fund won't push up Italy's
deficit
By Giuseppe Fonte
ROME, May 21 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury plans to create a
new 44 bln euro fund with initial resources of at least 4
billion euros to buy stakes in the country's strategic
companies, two political sources told Reuters.
Italy's major industries have been hit hard by the lockdown
to try to curb one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks
and Rome wants to defend them from potential foreign predators.
To this end, the new fund will be able to invest in
non-financial Italian companies with revenues of more than 50
million euros ($54.89 million), the government's latest stimulus
decree, unveiled this week, said. The fund will be
managed by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).
"The Treasury will fund the CDP in several tranches. The
first is worth 4 or 5 billion euros," a senior government
official said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity
of the matter.
The creation of the fund has encouraged the 5-Star Movement
in Italy's ruling coalition to renew a push for its proposal to
use the CDP to buy back the Milan bourse from the London Stock
Exchange, a party source said.
Its coalition partner, the centre-left Democratic Party, has
been cool on the idea.
Speculation about the LSE's plans for its Italian business
has grown since it announced last year that it planned to buy
Refinitiv, in which Thomson Reuters holds a 45% stake.
The Treasury said it would set up the new equity fund with
up to 44 billion euros in special bonds.
"CDP can use these instruments as collateral to raise
liquidity on the market", the government official said.
In exchange, the Treasury will receive units in the fund.
Under European accounting rules, such financial holdings have no
impact on countries' budget deficits.
The government's stimulus decree also authorises the CDP to
increase the firepower of the equity fund by selling
state-guaranteed bonds to private investors.
The decree said the CDP can, via the equity fund, invest in
strategic industries and critical supply chains.
($1 = 0.9109 euros)
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones and Jane
Merriman)