Italy - Factors to watch on Aug. 19

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Tuesday.

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 told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear.

Trump and Zelenskiy spoke in private before joining the contingent of European leaders including heads of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO for more than two hours of multilateral talks.

ECONOMY

Bank of Italy releases June data on foreign investors holdings of Italian government bonds.

COMPANIES

Milan Stock Exchange After Hours market closed.

(*)MEDIOBANCA MDBI.MI, BANCA GENERALI BGN.MI

Italy's merchant bank Mediobanca received European Central Bank approval on Monday to buy private bank Banca Generali and create Italy's second-largest wealth manager, as it seeks to thwart a takeover bid from Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

MEDIOBANCA MDBI.MI, MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA BMPS.MI

The take-up in Tuscan lender Monte dei Paschi's bid for Mediobanca reached 19.4% as of Aug. 18, data regarding the ongoing offer showed on Monday.

(*) Most of the shares tendered so far come from Mediobanca's largest investor Delfin, the holding company of the late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, several Italian newspapers said on Tuesday. Delfin aims to sell its entire 19.9% stake before the Mediobanca shareholder meeting scheduled for Thursday to approve the acquisition of Banca Generali, they added.

MFE-MEDIAFOREUROPE NV MFEB.MI

The Italian media group said on Monday it has secured 43.6% of shares in ProSiebenSat.1 PSMGn.DE, still short of a majority, as it builds its stake in an ongoing takeover bid for its German peer.

ProSieben shareholders have another two weeks from Tuesday to tender their shares.

ENI ENI.MI

U.S. asset manager BlackRock's BLK.N infrastructure fund GIP has agreed to buy a 49.99% stake in the Italian major's carbon capture and storage business (CCUS), Eni said on Monday without disclosing the price.

UNICREDIT CRDI.MI

The Italian lender said on Monday UniCredit Bank Romania had completed the merger with Alpha Bank Romania.

((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/