Unipol raises stake in BPER to just over 13 percent

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Unipol <UNPI.MI> said on Friday it had bought 3.25 percent of BPER Banca <EMII.MI> through a reverse accelerated bookbuilding, paying a 6 percent premium on the lender's last closing price and sending its shares up 4 percent.

On Thursday Unipol, which raised its stake in BPER to 13.1 percent from just under 10 percent through the acquisition, had said it was in the process of buying 5.2 percent in the regional lender and that it could be interested in a larger stake.

The group, which control's the country's second largest insurer UnipolSai <US.MI>, said it had paid 4.72 euros for each BPER share for a total of 73.8 million euros (64.7 million pounds).

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; editing by Agnieszka Flak)