MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. funds Varde Partners and BlackRock plan to submit rival bids for troubled Italian lender Banca Carige by mid-April, three sources close to the matter said on Monday.

The European Central Bank on Jan. 2 placed Italy’s 10th largest bank under special administration and asked it to find a buyer to stave off the risk of state intervention.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is particularly interested in Carige’s bad loans and in its private banking unit Banca Cesare Ponti, two of the sources said.

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