BUZZ- BPER Banca falls, Banca Popolare di Sondrio hits 2007 high after BPER's 4.3 bln euros takeover bid

Shares in Italy's BPER Banca EMII.MI fall as much as 5.9% after launching a 4.3 billion euros ($4.47 billion) all-share bid for Banca Popolare di Sondrio BPSI.MI, whose shares rise as much as 8.3%

Banca Popolare di Sondrio jumps to 10 euros per share, its highest since October 2007

"BPER, already holding a 20% stake, aims to acquire another 35%, but the market is indicating that the price needs to be raised to at least 10 euros," a Milan-based trader says

"The deal has a strong strategic rationale for BPER, with likely relatively low execution risk, given the businesses' complementarity," Deutsche Bank says

Up to the Thursday session's close, shares in Banca Popolare di Sondrio were up 13.9%​ YTD

By 0848 GMT, BPER stock is down 4.9% to 6.5 euros while Popolare di Sondrio's is up 7.5% to 10 euros

BPER is the worst performer on Italian Bourse's index FTSE MIB .FTMIB, which included the 40 most-traded stock classes on the exchange

($1 = 0.9535 euros)