PREMAFIN WRITES DOWN FONDIARIA SHARES AHEAD OF MERGER

Italian holding company Premafin, originally the investment vehicle of the Ligresti family, has written down the value of its 35.7% stake in Italian insurer Fondiaria-SAI ahead of its planned complex merger with Italy's number three insurer Unipol. The writedown, from €7 a share to €3.95 a share, means that Premafin will book a loss of €440.3m ($587.8m) for 2011. Premafin is also putting together a capital increase of €400m, which will be used to fund Premafin's share of a €1.1bn capital increase at Fondiaria-SAI.