Intesa CEO says bank took Generali stake to pre-empt defensive moves

MILAN, June 8 (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo has taken a 3% stake in Generali to prevent the insurer from building a defensive stake in Italy's biggest bank, CEO Carlo Messina told analysts.

Intesa on Monday launched a bid for Monte dei Paschi, the main investor in Generali and said it wanted to keep the Generali stake as an equity investment.

Back in 2017 Intesa had considered buying all of Generali, which reacted to a press leak by buying a stake in the bank.

Under Italian rules on cross-shareholdings, the company which later buys a stake has its voting rights frozen.

"You can make a mistake," Chief Executive Carlo Messina said. "What you cannot do is repeat it".

(Reporting by Valentina ZaEditing by Keith Weir)