MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Illimity is awaiting a decision by troubled lender Carige's over a proposed sale of impaired loans, the challenger bank's Chief Executive Corrado Passera said.
Genoa-based Carige was placed under special administration by the European Central Bank (ECB) this month after its top shareholder blocked a proposed capital raising.
Carige's temporary administrators are working on a business plan which they aim to have finalised at the end of February.
Former CEO Fabio Innocenzi, one of three ECB-appointed commissioners now running the bank, said Carige would move fast to cut soured loans with a view to selling at least 1.5 billion euros.
But Passera said the process had not started yet.
"If Carige puts on the block non-performing and unlikely-to-pay loans we'll certainly look at them. We'll see what they decide to do," the veteran Italian banker said.
Industry sources confirmed Carige, which was not immediately available for comment, had not yet sent out invitation letters.
The analysis of a bad loan portfolio is a very complex process which requires time.
Another investor potentially interested in Carige's soured loans is Italian bank and bad loan specialist Credito Fondiario, a person familiar with the matter said.
Credito Fondiario, controlled by U.S. fund Elliott, last year bought Carige's debt collection unit and 1.2 billion euros in bad loans.
Sources have told Reuters that Carige is in touch with state-owned bad loan vehicle SGA for its latest bad loan sale.
SGA, which took over the problem loans of two regional Veneto-based banks liquidated in 2017, is preparing to launch a 250 million euro five-year bond.
(Reporting by Luca Trogni and Valentina Za; Editing by Alexander Smith)
