Investors from Libya have begun building a stake in UniCredit after announcing Thursday they had a 4.23% stake in the embattled Italian bank. The move was welcomed by UniCredit, but could raise hackles in the Italian government. The Libyan Investment Authority, one of three Libyan investors who announced the investment, is also considering taking a stake in Telecom Italia, the telecoms provider. Alongside the LIA, the central bank of Libya and Libyan Foreign Bank said they had built the UniCredit stake by buying shares in the stock market but did not give further detail. UniCredit’s share price has plummeted in recent weeks amid the global financial crisis, sparking worries about its cross-border European businesses. The shares fell 13% to €2.16. Two weeks ago UniCredit announced it was raising €6.6bn in additional tier one capital to reassure investors. Earlier this week, Rome said it would not allow any Italian bank to fail in the global banking crisis and unveiled a package of measures to help the sector. But it stopped short of offering to put public money into the banks.
