31.  Under terms of its agreement, the Italian group must offer Fiat Auto to GM before approaching other potential buyers.

32.  Italian industrial group Fiat said Tuesday its board will meet on Thursday to discuss a strategic plan to restructure its troubled car unit Fiat Auto.

33.  Italian industrial group Fiat is bracing for another tough year because of a sluggish car market and has warned that its profits are likely to dip this year.

34.  It was also negotiating with Fiat to sell its holding of two percent in the Italian industrial group.

35.  Italian insurance group Generali on Thursday reported a profit for the first half of the year, while computer group Olivetti suffered a much reduced loss.

36.  Major French group Bouygues on Thursday announced establishment of a joint venture with Italian group Stet in the telecommunications sector.

37.  Murdoch said that he did not intend to invest in the Italian group.

38.  Meanwhile Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who had made an offer, said in Sydney that he did not any longer intend to invest in the Italian group.

39.  Privatizations of four Italian groups may be carried out by public sale offers or by direct sale to private investors, the Official Government Bulletin announced on Monday.

40.  Seperately, the Italian group refused at a news conference here to state clearly whether it might raise its offer in view of such resistance.