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ROME, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Italy is set to extend until mid-2021 the government's special powers to block attempts by European suitors to buy Italian companies in strategic sectors, including banks and insurers, lawmakers said.
Rome in April strengthened existing anti-takeover powers in the financial, credit, insurance, energy, defence, telecommunications, transport, water, health, semiconductors and cybersecurity industries. measure was approved after the coronavirus crisis hit share prices, potentially making unsolicited acquisitions easier. It allowed Rome to ward off unwelcome takeovers in key sectors from non-EU and - on a temporary basis until Dec 31 - EU groups.
The upper house Senate will vote later on Friday to extend the temporary intra-EU regime by a further six months, Vincenzo Presutto, a lawmaker from the co-ruling 5-Star Movement, told Reuters.
The six-month extension also applies to a measure obliging strategic Italian companies to inform the government of any changes in the ownership, control or use of their assets.
Rome has the right to block such changes or impose conditions to preserve its strategic interests.
The Italian parliament's security committee had urged the government to extend the year-end deadline.
The takeover bid announced by the Italian arm of French bank Credit Agricole CAGR.PA for rival Creval PCVI.MI will be subject to the government's vetting powers, should the offer be successful. Europe, Australia's Macquarie will also need government clearance before clinching any deal to buy Ital Gas Storage, which is deemed of strategic importance with its maximum capacity of around 1 billion cubic metres (bcm).