Italy - Factors to watch on March 31

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on IT/DIA.

POLITICS

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on all Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and they could start within a month if there is no ceasefire.

ECONOMY

ISTAT releases demographic indicators year 2024 (0800 GMT); March CPI flash data (0900 GMT).

COMPANIES

POSTE ITALIANE PST.MI, TELECOM ITALIA TLIT.MI

Poste Italiane has agreed to spend 684 million euros ($741 million) to buy most of Vivendi's VIV.PA stake in Telecom Italia (TIM) to replace the French group as the main investor in the phone group with 24.8%, it said on Saturday.

(*) Following the deal, the groups are exploring mutual collaborations, the first being Tim substituting Vodafone VOD.L into the 80-million euro supply contract for Poste's virtual mobile operator PosteMobile, which will expire on January 1, Corriere delle Sera reported on Monday. The groups are also considering deals in the financial services and energy sectors, it added.

ENI ENI.MI

(*) The energy group confirmed on Sunday it was notified by U.S. authorities it would no longer be allowed to be repaid for gas production in Venezuela through oil supplies given by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Reuters had reported on Saturday that the U.S. government had notified foreign partners of PDVSA, which include Eni, of the imminent cancellation of authorizations that allow them to export Venezuelan oil and byproducts.

(*) SAIPEM SPMI.MI

The oil service company said on Monday it received from Stockholm Exergi - a Stockholm district energy company - a full notice to proceed for a large-scale CO2 capture project at Stockholm Exergi’s existing bio-cogeneration plant in Sweden. The contract is worth approximately 600 million euros.

BANCA POPOLARE DI SONDRIO BPSI.MI, UNIPOL UNPI.MI, BPER EMII.MI

ING INGA.AS met with BPER's takeover target Banca Popolare di Sondrio in recent weeks as the Dutch banking group seeks to grow in Europe through takeovers, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday. The early stage discussions were not advanced and may not proceed to an offer by the Dutch bank.

Unipol Chairman Carlo Cimbri on Friday said a foreign bank had hired advisers to study a potential takeover offer for Popolare di Sondrio to rival the one tabled by BPER, hinting at Dutch bank ING as bidder by saying it was an "orange" bank.

UNICREDIT CRDI.MI, BANCO BPM BAMI.MI, ANIMA ANIM.MI

Italy's second-biggest bank has received European Central Bank authorisation for its 14 billion euro ($15 billion) all-share offer to buy smaller rival Banco BPM, it said late on Friday.

Banco BPM's CEO Giuseppe Castagna on Friday rebuffed concerns raised by suitor UniCredit about the impact on BPM's ability to lend of a regulatory setback it suffered in its bid for fund manager Anima Holding.

UNICREDIT CRDI.MI

The Italian lender has received permission from the European Central Bank and Bank of Italy to acquire direct control of Banco BPM and indirect control of other companies of Banco BPM group and Anima group.

GENERALI GASI.MI, MEDIOBANCA MDBI.MI

Generali's top investor Mediobanca on Friday said it had proposed another term for CEO Philippe Donnet and Chairman Andrea Sironi at the helm of the country's biggest insurer as it filed a slate of nominees for the new board of directors.

Generali third-largest investor, Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, proposed on Friday six candidates for the new Generali board including Enel CEO ENEI.MI Flavio Cattaneo and Acea CEO ACE.MI Fabrizio Palermo.

MONTE DEI PASCHI BMPS.MI, MEDIOBANCA

Leading governance adviser Institutional Shareholder Service (ISS) said on Friday it had recommended that shareholders in Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena vote against a proposed share issue to fund its bid for Mediobanca.

(*) MEDIOBANCA, GENERALI, MONTE DEI PASCHI

Italian lender Mediobanca has reported two of its top shareholders - Del Vecchio family's investment company Delfin and construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone - to the European Central Bank (ECB) over concerns that they are poised to gain control of three of the country's top financial institutions - Mediobanca, Monte dei Paschi di Siena and insurer Generali - without regulatory approval, the FT reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

INSURERS

The Italian cabinet on Friday approved a decree postponing a planned requirement for firms to take out insurance against natural disasters, sources said.

STELLANTIS STLA.PA

Stellantis will buy credits from a "pool" led by Tesla TSLA.O also in 2025, to meet European Union's CO2 reduction requirements, despite Brussels giving carmakers three years to comply, the group's Europe head said on Saturday.

(*) LEONARDO LDOF.MI European aerospace companies Airbus AIR.PA, Thales TCFP.PA and Leonardo have started preliminary talks with European Union antitrust regulators over a possible merger of their satellite businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

LEONARDO LDOF.MI. FINCANTIERI FCT.MI

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Corriere della Sera on Saturday Italy stood to benefit from EU defence spending plans as they entailed investments in sectors such as aerospace and shipbuilding where Italy had companies like Leonardo and Fincantieri.

(*) PIRELLI PIRC.MI

Chairman Jiao Jian has proposed to hold the upcoming board, on April 28, in Beijing or Hong Kong, la Repubblica reported on Monday.

The tyre maker is working to scale down the Chinese presence in its shareholding by welcoming new long-term investors, mainly funds, Corriere della Sera's L'Economia supplement reported on Monday, citing market sources.

AZIMUT AZMT.MI

The Italian asset gatherer has extended by one month to April 30 a deadline for exclusive talks with FSI over an investment by the Italian private equity fund into a new company Azimut is setting up by spinning off part of its financial adviser network, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

(*) BIALETTI BIA.MI

The coffee machine maker said late on Sunday it was in exclusive talks with Luxembourg-based NUO for the sale of a controlling stake after a report by Il Messaggero said that it was set to be delisted following a forthcoming 170-million euro buyout offer by fund Nuo and Jakyval, the holding company of the heirs of Guerrand Hermes.

Bialetti added that although negotiations were at an advanced state, talks are still ongoing over the financial terms of the deal. NUO is an investment vehicle indirectly owned by Italy's Agnelli's EXOR and by World-Wide Investment Company Limited (WWICL), one of Hong Kong's oldest family offices.

JUVENTUS JUVE.MI

Juve won 1-0 at home against Genoa on Saturday, in the first game under new manager Igor Tudor.

Juventus may need more money to steady its finances after parting ways with ex-manager Thiago Motta, the soccer club said on Saturday, adding its top shareholder, the Agnelli family's EXOR holding company, had agreed to provide 15 million euros ahead of a potential share issue.

ANIMA HOLDING ANIM.MI

Annual general meeting (0930 GMT).

DIARY

Rome, Bank of Italy holds annual shareholders' meeting; Governor Fabio Panetta presents report (0800 GMT).

((Milan newsroom, e-mail: reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com))

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in
brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI

20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI

FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS

FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB

FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR

FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC

Block trades.......... .BLK.MI

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in
brackets:

European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY

FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3

DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX

Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS

Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES

Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S

Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR

Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR

Main stock markets:

Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N

Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T

FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L

World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX

Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1

Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO

European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET

Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE

Main currency report:...............................FRX/

($1 = 0.9236 euros)